In consolation we will tell you that our ancestors, when they had teeth, had much worse. It turns out that in the "good old days" sick teeth smoked smoke or just tore, and as an anesthetic used dog's urine, reports Die Welt.

A trip to the dentist today would seem to us an easy walk compared to what they were forced to endure. Up to the XVIII century people addressed the dentist only in case of pain and if they had money (medical insurance was not yet there).

People were sure that tooth decay does not come from poor nutrition and insufficient care, but from certain "dental worms" and "bad juices". Especially widespread was the belief in "dental worms" in the Middle Ages. In the diet of people who lived in the XVIII century, sugar has not yet played a significant role. When, from the XIX century, the dishes became more "refined", sugar became more widely used, and white bread replaced the rough black bread, and the incidence of caries increased.

After it was found that the acids leading to the destruction of the tooth enamel are formed as a result of fermentation of starch-containing and sugar foods, proper nutrition has also been taken into account as a factor that leads to caries. In fact, at the end of World War II, when hunger reduced the amount of sugar in food, a reduction in cases of caries.

But to the purposeful dental hygiene was still far away. Even in the New Time in folk medicine, the use of urine for oral and dental hygiene was widespread. So, people widely used today toothbrushes used only once a week, and even once a month.

Dentists of that time even warned against too frequent use, assuring that they cause irritation of the gums. In the twentieth century, people began to realize that the toothbrush and toothpaste are the main means of preventing caries, but it was difficult to bring this truth to the masses. Only with the invention of radio for the first time it became possible to conduct explanatory work among the public about the hygiene of the mouth and teeth of medicus. en.

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