Toothy Truths

Before toothbrushes were invented people used twigs or their fingers to brush their teeth.

A couple of hundred years ago bad teeth was considered to be a rich man’s disease. It was only the rich people who could afford to eat sweet things like Queen Elizabeth I, who had very bad teeth.

To cure toothache ancient Egyptians would take a live mouse, slit it open and lay it over the tooth.

Putting a live louse into a food cavity was once thought to cure toothache!

In the dark ages, superstitions held that a person could cure his/her toothache or re-grow a lost tooth by obtaining a tooth from someone else. This tooth would have preferably come from a hanged criminal. It was believed that just the mere possession of such a tooth would work.

The Greek physician Hippocrates (400BC) suggested a toothpaste made from three mice and the head of a hare to cure toothache.

Before toothpaste was invented people used dry, rough things as an abrasive to clean their teeth like crushed eggshell, pumice or the burnt hooves of animals!

Cows do not have upper front teeth and their bottom ones never stop growing!

In the 18th century people would sell their teeth to the rich people to make false teeth with!

A third of the population squeeze their toothpaste tube from the middle.

The biggest shark species has the smallest teeth. The 12 metre long whale shark has more than 4,000 teeth, each only 3mm long.

New teeth are constantly being formed in rows in a shark’s jaw. Shark’s teeth are normally replaced every eight days.

The world’s oldest-known formula for toothpaste, used more than 1,500 years before Colgate began marketing their brand in 1873, was discovered on a piece of dusty papyrus in the basement of a Viennese museum.

The following disgusting list are other cures for tooth problems in the past.

Toothache: apply the following mixture to the corresponding shoulder: figs, saffron, mustard seed, and plaster of myrrh; boil earthworms in oil and drop the oil into the ear holes; rub the tooth with dried cow’s dung!

Tooth decay: rinse with a mouthwash made by boiling dogs’ teeth in wine.

To make loose teeth firm, tie a frog to your jaw

Important Message- please do not try these at home!

China has a ‘Love Your Teeth Day’ every year on the 20th of September. It is aimed at promoting oral health among the entire population of 1.2 billion people!