Information on who invented toothpaste
Have you ever wondered who invented toothpaste? You’ve come to the right place for an answer. Like all great inventions, toothpaste was invented in a series of steps throughout centuries.
The first mention of toothpaste ever in recorded human history dates to an ancient manuscript from the 4th Century. Egyptians wrote about making toothpaste from flowers. Other ancient manuscripts had a much less appealing ingredient as the main one: urine.
The question, “Who invented toothpaste?” speeds up a lot around the 18th century. That’s when the item we think of as modern toothpaste was invented. A dentist was the first one to add soap to toothpaste in 1824. By 1850, John Harris had added chalk to toothpaste, and almost 25 years later, Colgate began mass-producing toothpaste. However, Colgate’s toothpaste still had a long way to go before it landed in the tube we all grab first thing in the morning.
Colgate first produced toothpaste in jars. The other major difference about this toothpaste was that it was actually more of a tooth powder. It basically contained baking soda, glycerin, and flavoring. Dr. Washington Sheffield placed toothpaste into a tube in 1892, calling it Dr. Sheffield’s Crème Dentifrice. Colgate picked up on the idea of using tubes to package toothpaste in 1896.
By 1900, people had started adding hydrogen peroxide to toothpaste, and 14 years later, they added fluoride. However, the American Dental Association had plenty of bad things to say about fluoride at that time, and it remained that way up until the 1950’s. That’s when Procter & Gamble set up a research team to actually study the effects of fluoride in toothpaste. What they found was plenty of evidence that proved fluoride was very good for preventing cavities.
In the mid-1950’s, toothpaste companies began to get really creative with their product. They started experimenting with striped toothpaste. This was a phenomenon at the time because of how all the different colored components of the toothpaste came out of the same tube without mixing with each other, creating that striped effect. Toothpaste companies then began seeking even more patents for their products, including patens to protect the tubes they created in order for their new striped toothpaste to come out of the tube properly.
From there, the race about “Who invented toothpaste?” just gets more and more complicated as companies try to outdo each other and make better and better formulas to fight cavities. Today fluoride is still the most common anti-cavity ingredient in toothpaste. Toothpaste manufacturers are also developing all kinds of toothpaste, from whitening toothpaste, to special formulas made specifically for those with ultra-sensitive teeth.
Toothpaste is pretty much a necessity these days, especially for those who try to avoid going to the dentist at all costs! Dentists recommend that you visit every six months and practice good oral hygiene in between visits. Toothpaste, a toothbrush, mouthwash, and dental floss are all very important parts of good oral hygiene, and they can play important parts in reducing the number of cavities you get.