home: Mouthpiece: Autumn 2007
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home: Mouthpiece: Autumn 2007 |
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The newsletter of Ashwater Dental Practice |
Autumn 2007 |
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CELEBRITY-ORAL HYGIENE Paris Hilton’s floss sells for four figures. A piece of floss once used by Paris Hilton, smudged with pink lipstick and found in the trash outside her Hollywood home, has sold for $1,000 on an online auction. It was bought by casino Golden-Palace.com. You will be glad to hear all the floss we use is new! (and a great deal cheaper) The last time I went to London I visited the Wellcome collections new exhibition. Napoleon’s toothbrush was on display. It had a silver handle, rather expensive for a brush, perhaps they knew about the antibacterial effect of silver coated materials in the 1800’s. The head of the brush was very long, thank goodness designs have moved on. Kew Gardens and chewsticks ("Miwaks") The Economic Botany Collection at Kew Gardens has a selection of plants and extracts that have been, and continued to be, used for their good oral health properties. Approximately 182 plant species from around the world have been used to make chewsticks. They are used in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. The stick (pencil sized) is usually only actually chewed briefly to fray the fibres and separate them. It is then used as a brush to clean the teeth. Worn bristles can be cut away and new ones prepared by further chewing. The most widely used chewsticks are from the Toothbrush Tree, or Salvadora persica. Its anti-microbial properties ensure it is also used as an extract in herbal toothpastes.
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