How did cowboys brush their teeth? (2024)

FAQs

How did cowboys brush their teeth? ›

It was common to brush the teeth with twigs. You just chewed a twig until it formed a brush like tip and then brushed your theeth with it. This was done usually with certain trees that had antiseptical properties.

It was common to brush the teeth with twigs. You just chewed a twig until it formed a brush like tip and then brushed your theeth with it. This was done usually with certain trees that had antiseptical properties.

TWIGS TO FIGHT PLAQUE

Native Americans opted for smashed hardwood twigs as toothbrushes. Dogwood, oak and maple were just a few of the non-toxic hardwood varieties in use 300 – 400 years ago. Something twigs miss is the plaque between the teeth. Luckily, today's floss helps us reach those stubborn spots.

Ancient Chinese and Egyptian texts advised cleaning teeth and removing decay to help maintain health. Some of the early techniques in these cultures included chewing on bark or sticks with frayed ends, feathers, fish bones and porcupine quills.

Pirates Did Not Brush Their Teeth!

If pirates ever did clean their teeth it would have been using a "chew stick" which was not a very effective way to keep teeth clean and free of plaque. Today, however, we have a lot of options when it comes to toothbrushes of all different sizes and bristle-strengths.

Ancient Times

Although toothbrushes hadn't quite been invented yet, Egyptians used a paste made of soot, gum arabic (a naturally-occurring gum made from the hardened sap of an acacia tree), and water. The result was probably a little bit more abrasive than our modern-day Colgate or Crest.

And toothpicks are just one way they cared for their chompers. The study, published in the journal Plos One, describes what scientists discovered when they analyzed human teeth from about 800 to 1,000 years ago to gain a better sense of everyday oral health and habits in one community of Swedish Vikings.

The first recorded use of a brush for oral hygiene purposes was between 3500 to 3000 BC when cultures in ancient Egypt and Babylon used twigs with frayed ends to remove plaque from their teeth. Cultures, then as now, found white teeth to be a sign of youth and beauty.

This may shock you but early Native Americans had a high fiber diet due to heating large amounts of corn (maize), beans, squash, fish and game. This meant they also had healthy smiles to boot! This left them with very healthy teeth and gums.

The Egyptians had created the cleaning utensil by fraying the ends of a twig, which created the “bristles.” There were even tombs in the ancient Egyptians that had contained these tooth-sticks right alongside their owners.

What happens if you don't brush your teeth for 20 years? ›

When we don't brush our teeth, bacteria and plaque can build up in our mouths, which can cause tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath. If these issues are left untreated, they can lead to more severe health problems like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

After a week, the enamel on your teeth will start to fail. The plaque that hasn't been removed will increase the development of bad breath. Cleaning a plaque-ridden tooth is difficult. If you don't brush your teeth for a week, you're more likely to develop cavities.

A community toothbrush, which hung in stagecoach stations and other public eating places, was shared by anybody who felt compelled to clean his or her teeth.

Sailors used something called a 'tow rag'. A tow rag was a long piece of frayed rope that dangled in the water. The ropes were tied to the part of the ship that was used as a toilet. After wiping, they would drop the rope back into the water and let the ocean do the clean-up.

The typical oral hygiene routine for a person in ancient China was to gargle salt water or tea. It became common in the Tang dynasty to soak a willow twig in water before bed and chew on it in the morning. The willow fibers would protrude like a comb and scrub the teeth clean.

Romans brushed their teeth daily. Sound familiar? The tools were a little different, though – they used frayed sticks and rough pastes made of ground eggshells, hooves, seashells, pumice, and ash. They also had another familiar daily dental habit: using mouthwash.

Odds are if you lived back then, you never brushed your teeth. If you experienced a toothache or had a decaying tooth, extraction was the only solution. Sometimes, you didn't even get the luxury of a dentist taking out your pearly whites. Instead, the local blacksmith took care of you.

Americans didn't routinely brush their teeth until the 1940s, when WWII soldiers taught them to brush daily. Movies would have us believe that everyone on the frontier had clean, healthy teeth.

Since toothbrushes were not introduced into the US until 1885, they both had to use items of the land to clean their teeth. Both the pilgrims and the Native Americans used things such as animal hair tied to a twig, needles from a pine tree, or animal bones as toothbrushes or floss.

Natural Toothcare Techniques. Native Americans cleaned their teeth by using chewsticks and chewing on fresh herbs to cleanse their teeth and gums. Chewsticks were twigs that had two uses: one end was frayed by a rock and used for brushing, while the other end was sharpened and used as a tooth pick.