More than two thousand years ago, people in China knew the importance of protecting teeth. In Biography of Historical Records of Cang Gong, it is believed that the cause of dental caries is "eating without washing". In the Book of Rites: "When a chicken crows at first, it is salty to gargle", which shows that people have the habit of gargling. The ancients used fingers and willow branches to clean their mouths and teeth. In the Dunhuang fresco "Icon of Old Du Fork Head", there is a monk squatting on the ground, holding a mouthwash bottle in his left hand and wiping his front teeth with his middle finger in his right hand. There was a word "toothbrush" in the Yuan Dynasty. Guo Yushi said: "Zhou Nan toothbrush was delivered the next day, and it was worth one gold." And Chinese herbal medicines.
According to American records, 1498, when a new century was about to appear on the horizon of mankind, the emperor of China invented the toothbrush. Looking up the chronology, 1498 was ruled by Ming Xiaozong, which means that the toothbrush was invented by Ming Xiaozong. That toothbrush is made of bristles embedded in bones. As soon as the toothbrush came out, it spread to Europe and became popular there. But toothbrushes are expensive, only princes and nobles can enjoy them, and the general public can only envy them. Then it was not until the 1930s of 19 that DuPont began to manufacture synthetic fibers (nylon), and a new generation of toothbrushes with nylon bristles was born. At this time, toothbrushes became the staple food and flew into the homes of ordinary people. It can be seen that China had similar modern toothbrushes more than 600 years earlier than Europe. However, this is wrong. The earliest toothbrush unearthed in China today is the bronze toothbrush of Qin Dynasty.
According to ancient records, by the time China arrived in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were already shops specializing in the production and sale of toothbrushes in the city. At that time, toothbrushes were made of bone, horn, bamboo and wood. Several rows of small holes were drilled in the head and ponytails were tied. It is very close to the modern toothbrush.
Toothbrush was commonly known as "brushing your teeth" in the Southern Song Dynasty: Volume XIII of Wu's notebook monograph "Dream" describing Hang Cheng's life in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote: "There are things to brush your teeth in all kinds of groceries." Zhou Shouzhong, a native of the Southern Song Dynasty, compiled a health care book "Best Health Care for the Whole Family", and even specifically discussed whether to arrange the time for brushing your teeth in the morning: "You can't brush your teeth in the morning, for fear of floating roots and loose teeth, and toothache for a long time, and brushing your teeth is a ponytail, which is extremely harmful." Because the roots are loose and the ponytail is hard in the morning.
These bronze toothbrushes are similar in shape to smoking pots. You can put a cloth ball into the round hole in front to brush your teeth.
Tang dynasty toothbrush unearthed.
Ivory material, shape and function are no different from modern toothbrushes. More importantly, these Tang dynasty toothbrushes have sharpened handles and can be used as toothpicks. It is the oldest multifunctional toothbrush unearthed at present.
Bone toothbrush unearthed from Mawei Tomb in King Xu in Liao Dynasty.
Toothbrushes in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were made of ivory and donkey bones.
Song dynasty toothbrush.
Made of tiger bones, ivory and donkey bones.
The toothbrush of the Ming Dynasty even added a characteristic handle design.
In Europe, toothbrush was first invented by British shoemaker William Ellis in 1780 in London. William Ellis was arrested by the London authorities for inciting riots and then put into the notorious Xinmen prison. Unlike most prisoners, he is good at thinking with his own brain. One morning, he was brushing his teeth with a small cloth in the usual way, and suddenly an idea came to his mind: Is it more convenient and effective to brush your teeth with a small brush than to wipe your teeth with a cloth? While eating, he secretly put a meat bone in his pocket, took it back to his cell and asked a friendly guard for some bristles. That night, he ground the bone into a thin stick, drilled several holes in it, and then inserted the bristles into the holes in bundles and trimmed them neatly. In this way, the first toothbrush in Europe was born in prison. After she got out of prison, Alice set up her own toothbrush factory, which was a great success, because people were willing to use toothbrushes instead of small pieces of cloth. Now the company founded by Alice is still producing toothbrushes.