Toothbrush

The modern-style toothbrush dates back to somewhere between 1400 to 1600 AD in China. The first toothbrushes were made from bamboo and the bristles were hairs from a hog’s neck. William Addis of England created the next design change, which brought the toothbrush into the mainstream. He tied bristles to an animal bone with wire. The first person to actually patent the toothbrush is H.N. Wadsworth, in 1857, he also used bone for the handle and boar hair for the bristles of the toothbrush. Boar hair was replaced with synthetic bristles in the 1930’s. The first company to produce a toothbrush with nylon bristles was DuPont.