Before brushing the teeth, tooh paste is applied to the tooth brush and then the bristles are gently rubbed across all the surfaces of the teeth by holding the handle of the tooth brush. The most common and recommended method of brushing the teeth is to use circular motion of the brush by applying slight pressure. This method optimally cleans the teeth and also massages the gums gently which is necessary for maintaining healthy teeth. All the surfaces of the teeth should be brushed evenly and should be massaged for about 2 minutes. Another recommended method is to rub the bristles at the junction of the gum and tooth followed by circular motion covering the teeth surface. Circular motion is very efficient as the vertical motion of the brush is very effective in cleaning food particles that get stuck in the gaps in between the teeth, at the junction of the gum and teeth and the crevices of horizontal chewing surface of molar teeth. Vigorous brushing, rubbing side-to-side across the teeth and rubbing the teeth and gums with the hard shaft of the tooth brush may not onnly damage the teeth and gums, but are also least efficient in cleaning the teeth. Thus, they should be avoided.
Tooth brushes ahould regularly replaced with new ones every three to four months, because the bristles get worn out and so, the brushing efficiency gets decreased. Worn out bristles may also cause damage to teeth and gums as bristles become irregular with usage. Tooth brush should never be shared with anybody else as this may result in spread of disease causing pathogens.
Teeth should be regularly brushed atleast two times a day, preferably after eating. Brushing the teeth is the most important part of oral hygeine. Flossing is also very important because flossing helps to remove food particles from the gaps of teeth which cannot be accessed by tooth brush. Regular visits to the dentist helps in keeping teeth healthy. A dentist can teach and demonstrate proper brushing techniques.
Tooth brushes are as old as human civilization itself. Chewing sticks which palyed the role of the tooth brush, have been discovered in babylonia dating to around 3500 b.c. References are found in the ancient greek and roman literature, which mention about the use of toothpicks to keep the teeth healthy. Gradually, the teethpick evolved into the chewstick. One end of the chewstick was chewed until it became like a brush, the other end was sharp and pointed and used as a toothpick. This procedure was followed in china in around 1600 b.c. Twigs from aromatic teeth were used because these not only cleaned the teeth, but also freshened the mouth. The first true tooth brush was invented in china and brought to europe by eurpean traders. The tooth brush consisted of a bone or bamboo shaft at the tip of which hairs from the neck of siberian wild boar were fixed. In europe, horse hair was used instead of wild boar hairs. Wild boars hairs were very hard which resulted in bleeding of gums. So, horse hair which was much softer was preferred.
William addis of clerkenald, england made a tooth brush in around 1780. His descendents were the first to mass manufacture tooth brushes. In those days, the handles were made out of cattle bones and the bristles were boar or horse hair. By the 1800s, these tooth brushes became popular in europe and came into general use. Nylon was invented in 1837 at du pont laboratories in the united states of america and by 1938 it was used in tooth brush bristles. In 1939, the first electric tooth brush was invented in the switzerland. It became famous only in the 1960s. The first cordless rechargable electric tooth brush was introduced by general electric and it was in 1987 that the first rotatory action electrical tooth brush began to show up in the market.
The tooth brush has come a long way from the chewing stick of babylonia to the rotatory action electric tooth brush that we find today. It has been one of greatest and prized inventions of mankind. This is what the findings of a survey released by the lemelson-mit invention index at the massachusetts institute of technology, say. The toothbrush has beaten out the car, the personal computer, the cell phone and the microwave -- in that order -- as the most prized innovation!