We use toothbrush to brush our teeth. Most of the time, we take our toothbrush for granted. How many of you say 'thank you' to your toothbrush? Not many. I say it if I remember to tell it. Only when we forgotten to bring along our toothbrush for a trip will we then remember its importance.

So, what exactly is a toothbrush?

Is it merely just a dental instrument used for cleaning teeth which consists of a plastic handle and nylon bristles? It is probably one of the most important inventions considering the fact that if we don't have toothbrush, there would probably be a gum disease etc. Primitives started using toothbrush as early as 3500BC. They were the Babylonians. Back then, it was known as 'chewingstick'. As years pass, the toothpicks mature to chew sticks which were sizes of pencils. One end was chewed and became the softened and brush-like side while the opposite end was pointed and used to pick food which were stuck between the teeth.

However, the first true bristled toothbrush originated from China around 1600BC. Around 1780, the first toothbrush was made by William Addis of Clerkenald, England. His descendants then made the toothbrush handle out of the bone of cattle and bristles were obtained from necks and shoulders of swine, especially from pigs living in colder climate like Siberia and China. (I wonder how many pigs were sacrificed...hmm...Were those pigs slaughtered, shaved or something?)

As technology advances and the evolution of toohbrushes continued, synthetic bristles replaces natural swine bristles. (Thank goodness.) Now, we even have the electrical toothbrush! (which was first produced in Switzerland in 1939) Here's the question, is the conventional toothbrush better than the electrical toothbrush? Both has it's pros and cons but economically, conventional toothbrush is affordable by all, right?