One of the most common questions comes into the mind sometimes about the origin of the toothbrush. Surprisingly nobody is much bothered about the origin of such a common article of daily use, but it is better to some knowledge about it. There are several schools of thought available on the history of the toothbrush. Since ancient time a variety of oral hygiene measures have been used world over. This fact has been verified by the historians during various excavations done all over the world, in which toothpicks, chewsticks, tree twigs, strips of linen, bird feathers, animal bones and porcupine quills were recovered. Ancient Indian people used the neem twigs and its products to create toothbrushes and similar products for millennia. In the Muslim world, the miswak twig or root with antiseptic properties was widely used. Rubbing baking soda or chalk against the teeth was also a common practice. There is evidence that there was another form of the toothbrush existed dating up to 3000 BC. This type of the toothbrush was found within pyramids. These toothbrushes were crafted from a stick and the end of the stick was thrashed so that the fibers of the wood were softer. This stick was then rubbed against the teeth. The difference between the Indian and Egyptian practice was only that the Indian practice encouraged the use if a new twig for brushing and the brush was formed at one end of the twig by continuously chewing it. 

The toothbrush started its journey to the modern shape in China around 1500AD which used the stiff hairs from a hog’s neck, attached to a bamboo stick. The Chinese version of the toothbrush spread to Europe. The only drawback of the hog hair was the fact that it was very rough on the gums. William Addis of England was the man responsible for the laying of the foundation stone for modern toothbrush in the year 1770, when he had been placed in jail for causing a riot. While in prison, he took a small animal bone drilled small holes in it, obtained some bristles and tied them in tufts, then passed the bristles through the holes on the bone and glued them at the base. The hog hair toothbrush continued to be used till the early 1900s.

In the year 1937, nylon was introduced by the Du Pont laboratories. Soon the natural bristles obtained from animals were replaced by nylon and the first nylon bristle toothbrush went on to the market in February, 1938. This brush was given the name of Dr. West’s Miracle Toothbrush. Till the World War II Americans also began to take oral hygiene more seriously and the use of the toothbrush got more popular. This increase in the popularity influenced the development of better toothbrushes. Meanwhile numbers of corrections to the design and the type of bristles were added to the original design as per the popular demand and thus the modern toothbrush came in our hands. Meanwhile the first electric toothbrush was introduced at the centennial of the American Dental Association in 1959 and this product also got popular.