MORE than 100,000 tubes of toothpaste.
That’s a lot of toothpaste. All for a good cause – the six-figure donation went to those in need in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, courtesy of the Oral Health Foundation and the British Society of Dental Hygiene.
Assisted by Manchester-based charity Community 4X4, toothpastes were distributed to homeless, residents of homes for the elderly, those who use food banks, and those who struggle to access dental products or have limited money.
The toothpaste will help those in greatest need at a time of unprecedented difficulties, said Dr. Ben Atkins, President of the Oral Health Foundation. “It’s vital that oral health is maintained, not just for the health of the mouth but also for mental health as well.’’
Dr. Atkins hopes that the toothpaste will allow those that receive them to get all the benefits that come with healthy teeth and gums “and put a smile on their face.”
The toothpaste “will make a huge difference to those in need and reinforce the fact that these items are a necessity, not just a luxury,’’ said Diane Rochford, President of the British Society of Dental Hygiene.
What exactly is toothpaste?
As we all know, toothpaste is a paste or, in more ways than one, a gel used with a toothbrush to, well, brush our teeth.
Toothpaste is technically an “abrasive” that helps remove dental plaque and food lodged in between teeth.
Most commonly made of fluoride, toothpaste helps prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Salt and baking soda may be used to do the same job, but toothpaste, as we know it today, is most convenient.
A word of warning. Toothpaste, when swallowed in huge amounts, can be toxic.
The toothpaste came before the toothbrush. Egyptians are believed to have started using a paste to clean their teeth around 5,000 BC.
Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have used toothpaste. China and India first used toothpaste around 500 BC.
Its usefulness is the same now and then, to clean the teeth and freshen breath. The ingredients, though, were a lot more different; and that’s, to put it mildly.
Ancient toothpaste used ox hooves, ashes, and burnt eggshells – all combined with pumice. Ancient Greeks and Romans threw in crushed bones and ground oyster shells into the mix.
Powdered charcoal and bark were used by Romans to put in flavor and suppress bad breath. The Chinese used ginseng, herbal mints, and salt.
Relatively modern makers were just as inventive. Starting in the 1800s, soap was an essential ingredient; in England, betel nut was an ingredient – presumably from India, its colony.
Chalk was added in the 1850s and later ground charcoal.
The development of toothpaste in more modern times started in the 1800s. Early versions contained soap; in the 1850s, chalk was included.
During all this time, toothpaste was not a paste but rather in powder form stored in a jar.
Do not fault yourself when as a Filipino you tend to call toothpaste a “Colgate.” It was Colgate, after all, that started in 1873 the mass production of toothpaste in jars and by the 1890s in tubes.
Fluoride toothpaste to help prevent tooth decay was introduced in 1914.
Soap remained an essential ingredient until after 1945 when it was replaced by other ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulphate which remains an essential part of toothpaste until today.
Today, toothpaste is made of fluoride, coloring, flavoring, and sweeteners to help the fight against plaque, gingivitis, stains, tartar, and cavities./PN
