Weird Dental Facts
Exploring the Quirky and Curious World of Dentistry
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Does Your Toothbrush Bug You?
You should replace your toothbrush after you have an episode of the flu, a cold or other viral infections. Microbes can persist among the toothbrush bristles leading to re-infection.
Eh, What’s Up Doc?
The Greek physician Hippocrates (400 BC) suggested a toothpaste made from three mice and the head of a hare to cure toothache.
Chew on This For a While
Before toothbrushes were invented people used twigs or their fingers to brush their teeth. (Neem twigs are still used in India, as they have high bactericidal property.)
How Sweet . . .
Lippia dulcis is a Mexican plant that is 1,000 times sweeter than table sugar but doesn’t cause tooth decay and could ultimately serve as a low calorie sweetener.
Squeeze Me
A third of the population squeeze their toothpaste tube from the middle. . . which thoroughly annoys the rest of the population.
Can We Get This in a Tube?
The world’s oldest known formula for toothpaste, used more than 1,500 years before Colgate began marketing in 1873, was discovered on a piece of dusty papyrus in the basement of a Viennese museum. Powder for White and Perfect Teeth Crush and combine: • One drachma*...
I’m Here for My Blackening Appointment
In the early 1600s Japanese women made their teeth black to show loyalty to their husbands. Ohaguro is the term for this custom of dyeing one's teeth black. It was most popular in Japan until the Meiji era. Tooth painting was also known and practiced in the...
Now That’s A BIG Mouth
The Statue of Liberty's mouth is three feet wide! Source: The National Park Service
Outlaw D.D.S.
You may remember Doc Holliday for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and their famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but Holliday was actually a dentist who was trained in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and developed a booming little practice in Atlanta. After a short time,...