Thinking of how devastating dental problems could have been in the days when modern treatments did not exist, it is easy to see how the history of man is imbued with the most diverse remedies to prevent and combat dental problems.
On a Babylonian tablet dating back to 1800 BC the first suggestive theory on the onset of caries is imprinted; according to legend, a worm born in the mud would have begged Poseidon to allow him to live between the teeth and gums of man, where food and drink residues abound. Having obtained divine permission, the worm settled in the human mouth, beginning to dig tunnels and caverns.
Already in 400 BC Hippocrates urged not to believe in the history of the worm and recommended cleaning your teeth and gums every day to avoid tooth decay and tooth decay. But how to treat oral hygiene with the scarce means available in those times? Coal, alum, animal bones, shellfish shells, barks and various plant extracts were the most commonly used ingredients for preparing pastes and mouthwashes for rinsing.
In ancient Mesopotamia, for example, we brushed our teeth with a mixture of bark, mint and alum. In ancient India, a mixture based on extracts of barberry and pepper was used instead. In Egypt, during the twelfth dynasty, the princesses used verdigris, incense and a paste made from sweet beer and flowers like crocus. All the cultures of antiquity knew toothpicks, in wood, rachis or other materials.
Hippocrates himself, for cleaning his teeth, recommended a mixture of salt, alum and vinegar as a mouthwash.
In the literature of Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 AD) the uses of various plants for the well-being of the oral cavity are reported; mastic leaves, for example, rubbed against aching teeth and their decoction was considered useful for inflamed gums and drooping teeth. The dried resin of the lentisk grown on the island of Chios was and still is considered an excellent refreshing gum, which smells the breath giving a feeling of freshness and cleanliness. The thorns of the plant were used as toothpicks and in their absence the use of goose feathers or different birds was recommended.
In Arab countries, the siwak, a stick of root or wood obtained from the arak plant ( Salvadora persica ), was and still is very common as a toothpick; the Mayans of Central America, on the other hand, chewed the "Chicle", given by the latex of the Sapotilla tree ( Manilkara zapota ), which has long been an ingredient in modern chewingum.
Pliny himself indicated olive oil as an effective mouthwash against tooth infections.
Pliny was also among the first to report the use of a natural and extremely organic mouthwash: urine to effectively rinse teeth and gums. Thus, in addition to cleaning clothes, the use of aged urine a few days to whiten teeth was quite widespread among the ancient Romans.
Among the peoples of Muslim origin, the care of oral hygiene also assumed a religious significance, given that from 600 AD the word of Muhammad printed in the Koran recommended: "Keep your mouth clean because from there passes the praise to God!" For its part, The Holy Roman Church, promised: "Whoever prays to the holy martyr and virgin Apollonia, on that day will not be struck by toothache." Thus it was that, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Apollonia became the patron saint of those who suffered from toothache.
In the history of oral hygiene, an important role is played by mouthwashes. Ancient Egyptian, Chinese, Greek and Roman cultures were already imbued with recipes and folk remedies for dental care and to refresh breath. Ingredients included materials such as charcoal, vinegar, dried fruit and flowers; it seems that the Egyptians used a highly abrasive mixture of pulverized pumice and wine vinegar. The Romans, as mentioned, preferred urine, used mainly as a mouthwash due to the presence of ammonia.
The first evidence of a real toothbrush with bristles, similar to today's, dates back to 1500 in China. The fibers, however, being natural (pig hair attached to a bone or a bamboo stick), were too soft and deteriorated easily, becoming a receptacle of bacteria. Meanwhile in Europe, in the middle ages, the fashion of not washing raged, supported by medical and religious influences; the Sun King, who in all his life did not make more than two bathrooms, was already completely toothless at a young age. At that time the fans, so much appreciated by the noblewomen, were the ideal remedy to save the interlocutor the sight of smiles disfigured by caries and the pestilential smell of their own breath. If on the one hand the bad smells of the garments were camouflaged by civet essences, animal musk and amber, the toothache was attempted to remedy with equally unique recipes, passed off as portentous remedies by the merchants of the time. "A pappina of wolf and dog dung, mixed with rotten apples, helps in case of toothache" or: "The fallen teeth grow back if you massage the jaw with hare's brains" or "The best thing is to fight the toothworms with a mixture of roasted hare's head and finely minced sheep's hair ".
With the advent of the first microscopes, the tooth worm theory was definitively shelved. Antony van Leeuwenhoek discovered the bacteria by observing remnants of plaque and tartar taken from his teeth under the microscope. After observing the bactericidal effects of alcohol, Leeuwenhoek tested the partial inefficacy of mouth rinses with brandy and vinegar, reaching the conclusion that probably the mouthwash did not reach the microorganisms or did not remain in contact long enough to kill them.
An important step forward was made around the mid-1800s, when fluorine-based candies sweetened with honey were marketed. At the same time the production of toothbrushes and pastes containing fluorine and sodium salts similar to the current toothpaste began. In 1872, Samuel B. Colgate invented the first modern toothpaste based on mineral salts and refreshing essences. In 1938 the first “Miraculous tufted toothbrush by dr. West ”with synthetic fibers (nylon).
