History of oral health: the origins of fruitcare (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of oral health? ›

Early people used simple tools such as tree bark or twigs with frayed ends to clean their teeth and mouths in Babylonia as early as 3500 B.C. Feathers, bones, and even porcupine quills were used to clean between teeth during the Greek and Roman empires.

In 1723, Pierre Fauchard, a French surgeon credited as the Father of Modern Dentistry, published his influential book, The Surgeon Dentist, a Treatise on Teeth, which for the first time defined a comprehensive system for caring for and treating teeth.

Often, they would use water and a rough cloth, scrubbing their teeth. Salt and charcoal were often rubbed across the teeth and then rinsed away. However, the most common way of taking care of teeth involved taking a birch twig and fraying the end, making a primitive brush. Dental powders were also used.

In the 1700s, dental health took a back seat, with burnt bits of bread serving as a rudimentary tooth-cleaning tool. The 1800s saw an improvement, blending chalk, charcoal, dried fruit, or nuts with soap for dental hygiene.

How did it start? Oral history in the modern form of audio recordings had its origins in the work of Allan Nevins at the University of Columbia in the USA. He began to record the memories of 'persons significant in American life' in 1948.

Oral History is how verbally transmitted memories describe what has happened in the past. Different events from various periods may be conflated. The accounts may be mistaken. Sometimes the truth may have been the opposite from what is believed.

We could call this the “eye-for-eye, tooth-for-tooth” script. No version of this script takes us anywhere we want to go. The saying Jesus quotes in Matthew 5:38, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” occurs not once, but at least three times, in the Old Testament (Ex. 21:23-25; Lev.

Fibrous foods – Ancient humans ate mostly fibrous foods. These are both beneficial for digestion and helpful to the teeth – the fibers act as natural toothbrushes and scrub away food particles, bacteria and plaque from the teeth. A variety of nutrients – Your diet should be rich in a variety of nutrients and minerals.

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.

Dental hygiene during the Stone Age

Findings from ancient tartar analyses indicate that even cavemen cleaned the spaces between their teeth with plant fibres. However, dental care was not a priority for our earliest ancestors. As the diet during the Stone Age contained hardly any sugar, tooth decay was rare.

Why did our ancestors have better teeth? ›

Basically, our primal ancestors ate a healthy diet -- one full of bioavailable nutrients. They benefited from the connection between oral health and diet, so they generally had healthy teeth and healthy gums.

One week without brushing:

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.

In oral history, the material is collected by an external observer and is mainly used to focus on delimited past sequences. Life history involves an examination of self-written accounts, such as autobiographies (memoirs), letters, or diaries.

Oral history is a technique for generating and preserving original, historically interesting information – primary source material – from personal recollections through planned recorded interviews.

Oral history is the collection and recording of personal memoirs as historical docu- mentation. It documents forms of discourse normally not documented and it emphasizes the significance of human experience.

Oral health refers to the condition of a person's teeth and gums, as well as the health of the muscles and bones in their mouth. Poor oral health—mainly tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss—may result in a person experiencing pain, discomfort and feelings of embarrassment.