10 historical facts about the toothbrush

1.  The word known printed use of the word "toothbrush" was in 1690 in the autobiography of English antiques expert Anthony Wood, who mentioned buying a toothbrush.
2. The first mass-produced toothbrushes came out in 1780 and were produced in England by William Addis.
3. Synthetic fibers were first used in toothbrushes in 1938. Before then, animal hair was more commonly used for the bristles of the brushes.
4. The electric toothbrush was invented in 1939 in Switzerland.
5. In 1223 Zen master Dogen Kigen wrote that he witnessed monks using horse-tail toothbrushes made with handles of ox bone.
6. The first known historical toothbrushes were "chewing sticks" used as long ago as 3500 B.C. by Babylonians.
7. Brushing one's teeth was not popular in the United States until after World War II when soldiers returned home. The U.S. Army had enforced brushing of teeth among its soldiers, and those soldiers kept up the habit upon coming home.
8. Some scholars believe the first actual toothbrush, with a handle and bristles, was created in China in the 1200s.
9. The electric toothbrush was first sold in the United States in 1960.
10. Boar hair toothbrushes were used as recently as the early 1900s.

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