Toothbrushes and toothpaste have been around for over 3,000 years. By the early 1800s, ivory and bone toothbrushes were being mass produced for sale to the public and toothpaste followed suit by the 1870s.
At Canterbury Shaker Village
It is not unjustified to believe that the Shakers were brushing their teeth to a certain extent from the time the Village was organized in 1792. The original leaders of the community upheld a standard for cleanliness and hygiene as a spiritual necessity, which may have included dental care. Dr. Scott T. Swank in his book Shaker Life, Art, and Architectur states: The Shakers had one of the most open-minded approaches to healing, health, and death of any community in the nineteeth century. The community at Canterbury practiced a strong program of healthful reforms in diet and the use of tobacco, alcohol and pork; attention to general cleanliness and personal hygiene, including dentistry; experimentation with herbal remedies; and a trust of the gift of spiritual healing. These attitudes helped to lead the Shakers to achieve a level of community health care in rural New Hampshire that for much of the nineteeth century matched the care of the most progressive American towns and cities (p. 81).
Artifact Note:
Archaeological excavations conducted at Canterbury Shaker Village in the 1990s produced a small collection of toothbrushes as well as a collapsible tube of toothpaste (first put on the market in 1892 by Dr. Washington Sheffield of Connecticut). The toothbrushes most likely date between 1845-1890 as they have three rows of bristles (first introduced in 1844) and are made of ivory and/or bone (replaced in the 1880s by prophylactic brushes). Create a free website at Webs.com