Most of us do this action at least twice a day. I am not alluding to seeing what your friends posted on Facebook nor checking your email. This column is about brushing your teeth and the historical development of the toothbrush and toothpaste.

The first use of an implement to clean teeth was developed in Egypt around the year 3200 B.C. In this case B.C. does not stand for “Before Colgate.” Seeking a way to remove food particles from their teeth, people used what was called a chew stick. A chew stick was a tiny piece of a tree branch that had a frayed end for removing large food particles and a tapered end that resembled today’s toothpick. Chew sticks were so prized that many of them were entombed with their deceased owner. Maybe that is why mummies, like King Tut, always seem to be showing off their pearly whites.

Many centuries later the Chinese fashioned the first natural bristle toothbrush. Pig hair was inserted into animal bone and the device was used to brush teeth. It came in handy when General Tso came up with the recipe for his chicken with the sticky glaze. 

Eventually the Chinese toothbrush made its way to Europe. Perhaps it was packed away in Marco Polo’s bathroom kit bag. The more refined Europeans replaced the pig hair bristles with horsehair and in some cases, feathers.

The story of how the first toothbrush was mass-produced questions the validity of the phrase “crime doesn’t pay.” In 1770 William Addis was jailed for causing a riot. While incarcerated, he grew tired of washing his teeth using a rag and salt. Using a small bone from one of his meager meals, he made a series of small holes. He then somehow bribed a guard to give him bristles that he secured to the holes. Once glued, his toothbrush prototype was complete.

Upon his release from prison, he started a company to mass-produce toothbrushes. He became very wealthy and upon his death in 1808 gave the business to his son. It remained as a family business until 1996. Now known as “Wisdom Toothbrushes” the company manufactured over 70 million toothbrushes per year.

The first American patent for a toothbrush was granted to H.N. Wadsworth in 1857. You can google U.S.A. patent number 18,653 and see the graphic drawing of his simple design. The animal bristles embedded in bone have a curved dynamic unlike today’s toothbrushes that for the most part, are of uniform length. Unfortunately, animal bristles retained bacteria and tended to rot from excessive moisture.

Eventually toothbrushes were manufactured using a plastic base instead of bone. DuPont, in the 1930’s, began selling synthetic bristles made of nylon to toothbrush companies. 

In the United States people began cleaning their teeth with a toothbrush thanks, in large part, to the hygiene required of troops during World War II. Soldiers were ordered to brush at least once a day. That habit spread to their families when they came back stateside.

Like its handheld appliance, toothpaste has a history going back many years. Ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians used a mixture of ground up ox hooves, eggshells, tree bark and pumice to make a paste to clean their teeth. Unfortunately, the abrasive contents destroyed the enamel and did not leave their breath minty fresh.

The toothpaste that we now use got its start in the 1850’s. It was sold in powdered form that contained, in some cases, soap. Colgate began selling toothpaste in jars in 1873. Twenty years later they began selling it in tubes similar to the ones used today, although the product still contained soap. To increase sales, in 1945 manufacturers replaced soap with other ingredients to make the paste smoother and tastier.

Although toothpaste tubes are easy to use, a lot of the product gets lodged inside. No matter how carefully you squeeze from the bottom of the tube, frustration eventually sets in and the tube is tossed out. Here is my solution. The bottom of the tube should have a built in device, perhaps called a “paste pusher,” that allows the user to roll the tube up introducing a dollop of paste on the toothbrush.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.