Though it may be surprising to some, toothpaste and dental floss have both been around since ancient times, though not in their current form. Ancient toothpastes and dental floss were much different than the toothpaste and dental flosses that we use today, although their principles are the same.
Though it may be surprising to some, toothpaste and dental floss
have both been around since ancient times, though not in their current
form. Ancient toothpastes and dental floss were much different than the
toothpaste and dental flosses that we use today, although their
principles are the same.The earliest recorded use of toothpaste
was in five hundred BC, known to be in both China as well as India. Of
course in this era, they did not have the same science and technology
knowledge that we have today, so toothpastes were primitive and not very
likely to clean teeth the way they do today. It is unknown when the
first recorded use of dental floss occurred, but researchers have found
the grooves from floss and toothpicks in the mouths of prehistoric
humans.What we know as modern toothpaste was invented in the
1800s, and coincidentally so was dental floss. The addition of soap was
the first step to creating modern toothpaste and a dentist named Peabody
was the first to do this in the year 1824. In 1815 the dentist Levi
Spear Parmly began to promote flossing the teeth with a piece of silk
thread to his patients. Parmly is credited as the inventor of modern
dental floss.The next step in the evolution of toothpaste was
the addition of chalk as an ingredient by dentist John Harris in the
1850s. in 1873 Colgate became the first company to mass produce
toothpaste, and it was first sold in a jar. It wasn’t until 1892 that
Dr. Washington Sheffield produced the technology to market a
mass-produced toothpaste that was released from a collapsible tube.
Simultaneously a company based in Massachusetts began to mass produce
unwaxed dental floss for commercial home use. Though the floss was
marketed in 1882 it wasn’t until 1898 that it was patented by another
company, Johnson and Johnson. 1898 also saw the replacement of silk as
the thread used for dental floss with nylon.Colgate soon began
to mimic Sheffield’s collapsible tube product and successfully marketed
this packaging of toothpaste in 1896. During this time brushing and
flossing were still not common household practices despite the now
readily available toothbrush,
toothpaste, and floss. It wasn’t until WWII that brushing and flossing
became regular practices in American oral hygiene. During the era of
WWII there were advancements in synthetic detergents in America which
saw the replacement of the soap in toothpaste with other emulsifying
agents. Not long after Colgate began to add fluoride to toothpaste as a regular ingredient.Just
before WWII nylon floss was developed. This was the key factor in
turning regular flossing into a common oral hygiene routine. Nylon
threads held up better than silk because they increased the abrasion
resistance and were more elastic. As American history progressed and
people became more and more environmentally conscious nylon threads have
since been replaced in most dental flosses and biodegradable materials
are used instead.Today brushing
and flossing are both considered common oral hygiene practices,
although one is a bit more popular than the other. Flossing can be very
important for oral hygiene and is recommended by most dentists.
Unfortunately however, only an estimated ten to forty percent of
Americans are flossing regularly.
Jessica Harmon is a staff writer for Dr. James A. Wells of South Charlotte Dentistry. If you would like more information on how we can help you with your oral health please visit our website!
