* In 200 AD, the Romans used a mixture of bones, eggshells, oyster shells and honey to clean their teeth.
* A mosquito has 47 teeth.
* In 1400 A.D. toothbrushes were invented in China using wild boar neck-hairs as bristles.
* Paul Revere was a practicing dentist.
* Certain cheeses, including aged cheddar, Swiss and Monterey Jack, have been found to protect teeth from decay.
* In 1780, William Addis of England made the first modern toothbrush with cow hairs and a bone handle.
* Queen Elizabeth I's teeth were noticeably discoloured. A German traveler, Paul Henter, speculated that the discoloration was due to the Queen's excessive consumption of sugar, making the first recorded association between sugar and tooth decay.
* In the 1920's, toothbrush handles made of a plastic called celluloid replaced bones.
* The ancient Egyptians believed the application of a freshly killed mouse to an aching tooth would cure it.
* In 1938, the first nylon bristles provided an alternative to using animal hair.
* A time honoured custom in England which carried through to colonial Australia, was the belief that mice had magical powers. When a child lost their first baby tooth it was dropped into a mouse hole to ensure the little person's freedom from toothache.
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