History of the toothbrush

The Tokyo girl Hazuki Tomizaki was only four years old when she became the real. .. zoo director. True, only for one day, but she could really give orders to her adult subordinates. And her first order was: carefully brush the animals teeth and constantly monitor their condition. The director herself brushed the teeth of a small monkey with a special brush. According to the employees of the zoo, both Hazuki and the monkey liked this procedure very much.

The girl became the director of the zoo not by chance. She won the children's contest for the cleanest teeth, held within the "clean teeth" week, which is held annually in Japan in early June. For seven days in newspapers and on television, children are explained why care is needed for their mouth. Japanese doctors are concerned about the state of teeth in the population. Maybe they stopped fulfilling the covenants of the ancient samurai Code of Bushido "The Way of the Warrior"?The code detailed everything that the medieval Japanese warrior must do( and not do).With respect to teeth, the ancient code is not inferior to modern hygienic instructions. Only instead of a toothbrush a samurai was instructed to brush his teeth with a soaked branch of a resinous plant, and it should be done in the morning and in the evening, before and after eating.

Of course, the samurai were not the first and not the only ones who kept their teeth clean. Now it is impossible to determine when, where and how a toothbrush appeared - an indispensable tool for health. Probably, some of our distant ancestors woke up in the morning in a cave with an unpleasant taste in their mouths, took a twig, chewed its end and began to brush its teeth. By the way, in India, so far, such "toothbrushes" are being sold in the bazaars - the twigs of a tree by him. It is enough to clear such branch from the bark and chew it. Razmochalennyh fibers successfully clean the teeth, and the juice that is released at the same time( very pleasant to taste) has disinfectant properties and perfectly strengthens the gums.

The "great-grandmother" of the toothbrush was known to the ancient Romans as far back as the 4th century BC.At that time, the "brushes" were made in the form of soft-wood spatulas, and as a tooth powder, a complex composition was used, which included shells from oysters, honey, water and many other things, sometimes of overseas origin. The indigent citizen of the Roman Empire, who did not have the money to buy "imported powder", was content with ash or coal from the fire, and then rinsed his mouth with water. At the same time in Transcaucasia and Central Asia, teeth and gums were peeled from the fruits of pomegranate or walnut.

Residents of Siberia and the Urals used chewing mastic( gray) to strengthen gums and brush their teeth, which was cooked from pine resin. But in Vietnam in the distant past, they solved this problem differently. There they covered their teeth. .. with black lacquer. At first glance it is somehow strange and unusual, but then you can and get used to it.

In Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible the boyars after the meal used a so-called tooth-brush or broom-a stick with a bunch of bristles at the end. For now - at will. The procedure became mandatory later. Peter I established his famous assemblies-balls and meetings, arranged in the houses of nobles. They served not only for fun, but for the cause, for it seemed possible to see each other and talk about any need. And then the king already mandatory ordered the boyars to brush their teeth before the assemblies. In Tolstoy's novel "Peter the First" there is such an interesting episode:

"Mishka served a saucer with chalk and a clean cloth.

- What's that? Shouted Roman Borisovich.

- Clean teeth.

- I will not!

- Your will. .. As the tsar-sovereign spoke, I tried to clean my teeth, the noblewoman told me to serve every morning. .. »

The toothbrush of that" design ", to which we all are accustomed, appeared not so long ago: at the end of the 18th century inGermany opened the first factory of toothbrushes. The new products began to quickly conquer Europe, later it all came to America, where the first specialized factory was opened only a hundred years ago.

Nowadays almost every company offers its own design of toothbrushes. But studies conducted by specialists have shown that almost all produced brushes are far from perfect. Scientists suggest first of all to reduce the size of the working part of the toothbrush and make it not of bristle, but of synthetic fibers. The fact is that natural bristles become brittle and brittle during bleaching, it often falls out of the nests and, most unpleasantly, in the core of the bristles there is a channel in which microbes accumulate and multiply.

Inventors of many countries today are working on improving this seemingly simple subject. Thus, the French dentist J. Siau designed a musical toothbrush specially for children. And the melody is heard only when the teeth are cleaned by all the rules. So, if you want to listen to your favorite melody, do as you please.

One Swiss company produced a comfortable brush. The handle is hollow - there is inserted a tube with liquid paste. It is worth pressing the handle lightly, as there is paste right between the bristles. One tube can be used 60 times.

There are electric toothbrushes powered by an electric vibrator.

Invented and a hydraulic toothbrush, connected to the water pipe. Thin jets of water wash away the remains of food and simultaneously massage the gums.

Toothbrushes can not only be invented, but also collectible. One collector from Germany houses over one hundred exhibits. He started collecting them about 30 years ago. There are copies here dating back to the beginning of this century. They are made of wood and bristles of wild boar. An unusual specimen is also kept - a "maxi-brush" about one meter long. There are in the collection of modern brushes, brought from many countries of the world.

So, you see, even for such an insignificant thing, like an ordinary toothbrush, there is a story and collectors.

Well, at the most extreme, you can do without a brush. Apples( only unsweetened) - an excellent tool for cleaning teeth. When chewing them, 96.7 percent of bacteria in the mouth are eliminated.

Do you know?

What chemical element is added to the toothpaste to make it curative?

Fluoride.