Toothpick

(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)

YOU MAY think this is nitpicking.

Or fault finding with one of the more frequently encountered personal tools: the common toothpick.

We are serious. At the wrong hands, literally, and done incorrectly, the use of toothpicks may damage the roots of your teeth. For example, if a toothpick breaks and gets stuck in the gums, the root tissue will be damaged.

People commonly use a toothpick to, well, “pick” food debris from hard-to-reach places in between teeth. Or   cleansing a cavity of food. Or they pick on the edges of their gums.

All of the above can potentially damage the teeth and gums. They can even infect the gums and damage the root canal.

Perhaps you already know (we hope you don’t experience this) that too much picking in between teeth can cause a gap, tiny it may be. This leads as to why people pick in between teeth in the first place: food can easily get stuck in between the now wider gap.

Using the toothpick way too much damages and weakens teeth enamel. And don’t use a toothpick when your gums are bleeding as it may cause more harm and add to injury.

Indeed, dentists advice that a toothpick is used very rarely – if at all. The dental floss is more desirable.

Use a toothbrush instead, a toothbrush with good bristles that are firm enough to reach cavities and clean them. Warm water with salt also helps clean gums.

Having said all of that, we admit that the toothpick is the oldest instrument for dental cleaning.

Filipinos use thin branches of shrubs or trees and fashion them to “emergency” toothpicks. They used to anyway or even do so until today when the handy toothpick is not available.

The tradition dates back to millions of years ago when dental hygiene requires it. Remains of ancient humans excavated in Dmanisi, Georgia, date back to about 1.8 million years ago and show lesions of repeated use of a “toothpick”.

Fast forward and toothpicks have been made of bronze in the Alps. And of silver in what is now Italy.

In the 17th century, luxury toothpicks were treated like jewelry, made of precious stones and metals. By 1869, Marc Signorello invented the first toothpick manufacturing machine.

Today, toothpicks are made from logs that are cut into thin sheets, then chopped, milled and bleached into individual toothpicks.

Plastic toothpicks called dental pics followed in America and are still made in the state of Georgia. The Mayo Clinic recommends using a dental pic instead of a wooden toothpick as it is more effective in cleaning hard-to-reach surfaces and, used properly, doesn’t damage the gums.

Nowadays, it is common to see toothpicks that are made of bamboo. It’s clean and green and, like wooden toothpicks, bioidegradable./PN