Do you know what the first toothbrush invented was made out of?

 

Answer: With bone and boar's hair!

 

Did you know that the average person creates enough saliva on a regular basis to fill a 600 ml water bottle? That is enough to fill a vending machine can.  That’s a lot of spit.

 

Did you know that Elephants go through about 6 pairs of teeth? They are hard on their teeth. Every 10 years or so, a new pair grows back. Elephants live a long time. 

 

Without saliva, it is hard to tell the difference between sweet, salty, bitter and sour foods. 

 

Before the modern toothbrush, people cleaned their teeth with the tip of a twig. These were called chew sticks and the bristles of the twig worked like a toothpick. 

 

Did you know that enzymes and protein that make up saliva slow down tooth decay?  

 

Before mint flavoured toothpaste existed there were other ingredients.  What did people use to clean their teeth?

 

Answer: Some pastes included ashes, chalk, charcoal, honey and lemon juice. Crushed eggshells and parts of animal hooves have been used too. Aren’t you glad they have found tastier recipes?!

 

Did you know that teeth are so durable they can survive extreme heat of up to 1100 Celsius?

 

Toothache Relief Around the World

 

In ancient China, people would wrap sore teeth in parchment paper with written words around them in hopes to soothe their sore teeth.   

 

In Germany, people would kiss a donkey because the belief was that the toothache would go away.

 

Some people used to believe the old myth that toothaches were caused by a worm in their tooth and it would never go away. Those people needed to visit Dr. Magda.