Toothpaste is a part of our daily schedule. We brush are teeth in the morning, evening, and sometimes between meals. But there are some very interesting facts about the history of toothpaste that you may not have known.
• Toothpaste actually didn’t become a paste until the 1850’s. It was just a powder up until then.
• People have used a variety of different flavors for toothpaste. The Egyptians used myrrh, the Romans used charcoal and bark, and the Chinese used ginseng and salt. If you think those are some strange flavors, we have some even weirder ones available today, including curry, pickle, pine, and bacon.
• Another name for toothpaste is dentrifice, with derives from latin and means “to rub.”
• The Egyptians are the first people known to use toothpaste, starting around 3000 B. C. Their version was made of ground pumice, eggshells, and ox hooves.
• If you think ox hooves are a strange toothpaste ingredient, just take a look at ancient Grecian toothpaste. Their version included ground oyster shells and bones!
• Soap wasn’t added to toothpaste until the early 1800’s. It just contained abrasive substances to clean teeth until that point.