How did people clean there teeth before toothbrushes and toothpaste was invented?

Answer 1

I believe they used things like chalk and coal. I would imagine it tasted pretty foul, so they probably didn't do it that often.

Answer 2

The first toothbrushes were patented in France in 1882.It was commonplce until the 50 s for people to use soot an salt to clean teeth.prior to the toothbrush inovation either your finger or a rag would be used.Old victorian pictures with no one smiling wereny cause they were a bunch of miseries , was because they had very little teeth past their teens,those that remained resembled chandeleers of varying shades of yellow

Answer 3

My Dad never brushed his teeth and lost all of them at a very early age. The first toothpaste (or what passed for it) was invented long ago in Egypt, but pastes and powders didn't come into general use until the 1800s. They only added flouride in 1914.

Survival training tells you to use a stick (your finger can help a LITTLE).

Answer 4

I know in Trinidad they would pick a hibiscus branch, chew on it until the end is frayed and then brush their teeth with the frayed end of the stick. It was later found to be a good practice because hibiscus branches contained some form of flouride in them.

I'm sure there might be other similar plants that may have been used for this in other countries as well.

Answer 5

they used a mixture of salt, pepper, mint leaves and iris flowers to clean teeth ... some also added urine to a mixture of powders, since the ammonia (in urine) is a whitening agent. Also used in the variety of tooth powders were alum,chalk, charcoal or(soot),pulverized brick, cinnamon, dragon's blood(an herb). Applicators were either sticks, fingertips or pieces of cloth.
In the 1900's a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda was pretty much the standard teeth cleanser. (In 1896 Colgate & Co.manufactured toothpaste in a tube container.)

Answer 6

If you chew on the end of a green twig, it goes all bristley. You can then 'brush' your teeth with the end, removing the gunk. Have a drink of mint tea, and bobs yer uncle. Also, they wouldnt have eaten much sugary food like we do now, so decay would have been less of a problem than erosion caused by using teeth as a tool. It possible animal sinew could be used like dental floss, and tiny shards of wood used as toothpicks.

Answer 7

before toothpaste was invented, people used all kinds of dry, rough things to. clean their teeth. They used things like crushed eggshell,

Answer 8

I don't know what they used for toothbrushes before they were invented, but I do know that they used urine for toothpaste.

Answer 9

They didn't.

1498. The toothbrush was invented in China.

The first person who promoted it, ended up being murdered because someone poisoned his toothbrush.

Answer 10

My mum who is 82 told me she and the rest of the family cleaned them with a bit of rag and soot have never tried it but they all had good teeth in later years bicarbonate of soda I have always cleaned mine with that and have never had to have them cleaned at the dentists

Answer 11

anything that is abbrasive could be used, that includes coal dust etc.

Twigs can also be chewed, as many still do in countries where toothbrushes and toothpaste have not been introduced to