Toothpaste is from ancient Egypt

Scientists have found an Egyptian toothpaste formula, dating back to the 4th century AD, in a collection of papyrus texts at the National Museum in Vienna, Austria.This is the world's oldest toothpaste recipe, and is another proof that the ancient Egyptian medicine was one of the most advanced medicine of the time.

Iris flower

Ingredients of toothpaste include 1 drachma salt, 2 mint drachma, 20 pepper seeds and 1 drachma dry iris flower. Scientists found this flower to be very effective against gum disease. A drachma is a very small part, equivalent to 1/100 ounce (1 ounce = 28.35g). This recipe is almost impossible to fill a tube of toothpaste. So perhaps the ancient Egyptians made some new ice cream every time they brushed their teeth.

Dentist Heinz Neuman, attending a dental conference held in Vienna, said no dentist thought that such an advanced toothpaste recipe existed in this ancient time. Neuman tried this cream and found his mouth clean and cool.

Lisa Schwappach-Shirriff, Director of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California, explained that the ancient Egyptians worried a lot about teeth. Crushed wheat often contains small grains of sand. These particles wear teeth, sometimes causing serious abscesses, which can lead to death.Ancient Egyptians tried a variety of dental remedies, including chewing gum to make fresh breath and applying honey - a natural antibiotic. Tooth fillings are made of turpentine and malachite - a mineral with antibiotic properties.

Because this fourth-century toothpaste recipe was written behind letters between monasteries, researchers suspected a Christian monk might have invented it. The time of the invention of this toothpaste probably coincided with the time when the works of the great Basil - Archbishop of - influenced the land that is now Turkey.

This toothpaste formula is very modern and even ahead of its time. Until 1873, when Colgate introduced the first commercial toothpaste, most people used a mixture of soap and salt water, less effective.

(Minh Son - Theo Discovery)