What is Tooth Paste?

What is Tooth Paste?

A tooth paste forms an item of our daily usage. We only witness advertisements of different companies that boast of some ingredients that supposedly protect, strengthen and beautify our teeth. Dental hygiene is a very important part of a human.

Pastes to clean teeth were first made in Egypt about 5000 B.C.E. They used powdered Myrrh (aromatic resins from thorny trees), Pumice stones (glass like material from volcanic eruptions), burned ashes of ox hooves, egg shells and oyster shells etc. About 300 B.C.E., in China, Huang-Ti claimed that toothaches could be cured by inserting some pins in a patient’s gums. This was the first approach to oral hygiene. Tooth powder first became available in Europe in the 18th Century A.D. But, these were crude forms and damaged the enamel of the teeth. Though glycerine was used to make a paste and make the powder more palatable. In 1850, chalk was added as a whitener and the brand was sold under the name ‘Crème Dentifrice’. It was in 1873 that Colgate Company started mass production of aromatic tooth paste jars.

The tooth paste industry has made progress since then and has come out with many ingredients to remove plaque, make the paste protect the enamel, act as whitener, quote the teeth with a light film of calcium compound and also protect the gums and fight tooth decay.

 

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