Where Did Toothpaste Come From?

To understand the history of toothpaste, we have to start in the present for a second. Today's toothpastes are rather smooth, which is very unlike the substances used in years past. As you'll see in a moment, the very essence of early tooth care was "abrasion," and it stayed this way for a very long time. And even though "abrasion" is still a component in modern toothpastes, it's much prevalent than it used to be.

We probably don't know exactly when a substance was first used on teeth. Research suggests that the Ancient Egyptians first developed a dental cream as far back as 3000-5000 BC. The ingredients of this dental cream was comprised of powdered ashes from oxen hooves, myrrh, egg shells, pumice, and water (the actual "toothpaste" was likely a powder at first, with the water probably added at the time of use). You can imagine the taste, but it probably worked by "scraping away" the bad stuff off teeth.

Later, in Greece and Rome, we see more abrasives being added to the powder mixture, like crushed bones and oyster shells. More cleaning power, for sure, but still, the taste... Well, maybe it's not so bad. We know the Romans added flavoring, perhaps to help with bad breath and to make their paste more palatable. This flavoring was more or less powdered charcoal and bark, although I'm not sure how tasty charcoal is.

Around the same general timeframe time (500 BC or so), China and India were using a powder/paste as well. The Chinese were very progressive in adding flavoring, going with Ginseng, herbal mints, and salt. This probably tasted a lot better than the early Egyptians version.

So skipping forward, like many other inventions and customs, toothpaste" eventually worked its way westward. These "powder/pastes," used together with early toothbrushes (chewing sticks), made it so people centuries ago were most likely doing a bedtime routine similar to ours.

So now we have these crude powders/pastes until the 1800's. We see ingredients change somewhat, with soap being added in the early 1800's, and in the 1850's, we find an actual "paste" sold in jars (Colgate gets involved with mass production of this in 1873). These pastes still used fairly abrasive ingredients, which definitely scrapes away the bad stuff, but...also was damaging to enamel, the protective outer layer on teeth...not good!

In 1914, the most prolific component of all was introduced -- fluoride!  WWII saw the development of a lead/tin storage tube that, combined with the fact that lead leaks into the toothpaste, leads to the development of plastic tubes.

Abrasion is significantly reduced during this time as well -- more synthetic ingredients were added (such as sodium lauryl sulphate, which is a foaming agent), as well as sweeteners. Also, fluoride toothpaste became the ideal standard during the late 1950's and 1960's. The 1980's to present day have seen all kinds of additions ... gels, whitening agents, toothpaste for sensitive teeth and so on. It's almost hard to keep up, really. If you go back in history, it's very interesting that Ancient Romans, the Egyptians, the Chinese, in general terms, were doing what we do today.

So, has all this advancement been beneficial? In general terms, yes, it has. Good-tasting toothpaste , sold in tubes is convenient, and adding fluoride has certainly helped.  I've been asked about my opinion of toothpaste a lot. In general terms, I feel the more natural you can get, the better off you are. But my belief is that you are more likely to brush if you like the taste of your toothpaste! But no matter what brand of toothpaste you choose, it's certain you are getting better tooth care (and better tasting toothpaste) than our predecessors did. And that's a great thing!