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May 2004, Vol 94, No. 5 | American Journal of Public Health 721
© 2004 American Public Health Association

IMAGES OF HEALTH

Popularizing the Toothbrush

Elizabeth Fee and Theodore M. Brown

Elizabeth Fee is with the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. Theodore M. Brown is with the Departments of History and of Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Elizabeth Fee, PhD, Bldg 38, Room 1E21, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894 (e-mail: elizabeth_fee{at}nlm.nih.gov).

TOOTH DECAY IN EUROPE and America is believed to have increased dramatically during the 19th century as a result of the growing general availability of refined flour and sugar in industrially processed foods. By the end of the century, surveys showed that between 90% and 95% of all children had untreated decaying teeth.1 Most children saw a dentist—if at all—only for emergency extractions. In 1910, local dentists examined 447 schoolchildren in Elmira, NY, and reported that only 22 of the children had teeth "in perfect condition."2 The other children collectively had 2063 cavities and 617 "teeth and roots needing extraction." Similar results were being reported from other towns and cities.


"Here we are coming to clean our teeth, clean our teeth, clean our teeth/Here we are coming to clean our teeth; and we do it night and morning." Toothbrush Drill in New York City, photgrapher unknown, circa 1912–1913.

Source. Prints and Photographs Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md.

Between 1910 and 1916, philanthropists built and endowed the first free and reduced-fee clinics for children and established the first schools for dental hygienists in Rochester, NY, Bridgeport, Conn, and Boston, Mass. By the 1920s, almost all American cities had free or reduced-fee clinics, and by 1950, such clinics were providing almost half of all oral health services delivered to children. Members of local dental associations staffed some clinics on a volunteer basis together with young dental school graduates seeking clinical experience. During the Great Depression, federal funds helped local and state governments to hire unemployed dentists.

The first dental hygienists entered the schools to clean children’s teeth and teach them how to use toothbrushes.3 Some cities provided each child with a free toothbrush and tooth powder, while others sold them at 2 or 3 cents each. As in England, where toothbrushes were provided to all servicemen during World War I, this helped establish and extend the use of the toothbrush in working-class families.4 American schools also adopted the "toothbrush clubs" and "toothbrush drills" begun in England.5 This image, from a New York school, shows children demonstrating their newly acquired skills of toothbrushing.


   References
TOP
 References
 
1. Meckel RA. Delivering oral health services to children in the past: the Rise and fall of children’s dental clinics. Ambul Pediatr. 2002;2:255–260.[Medline]

2. Gulick LH, Ayres LP. Medical Inspection of Schools. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation; 1913:115.

3. Kohut RD, Maloney JM. "Don’t forget to clean your teeth!" J Conn State Dent Assoc.1989;64:284–288.[Medline]

4. Fox B, Maddick I. A hundred years of dental education. Br Dent J. 1980; 149:28–32.[Medline]

5. Gelbier S, Randall SB. Charles Edward Wallis and London’s toothbrush clubs: 1909 style. Dent Health. 1982; 21:12–15.





This Article
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Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
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Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fee, E.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, T. M.
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PubMed
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Right arrow Articles by Fee, E.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, T. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow School Health
Right arrow Other Child and Adolescent Health
Right arrow Dental/Oral Health
Right arrow Prevention
Right arrow Health Education
Right arrow History

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