Did You Know? Peculiar Toothpaste Facts Whiskey Toothpaste In the 1950s, Poynter International, an American novelty product business, sold toothpaste in rye, bourbon and scotch flavours. The formulation contained 3% alcohol. The product was profiled in a spoof article in LIFE magazine, which read, “Researchers found that those using the whiskey-flavored toothpaste brushed their teeth after each meal, including lunch at work—and as many as 14 other times during the day. The results showed that these people, using the special whiskey-flavored toothpaste, had 21% more cavities but they couldn’t care less!’’ Invention of the Toothpaste Tube American dentists Dr. Washington Sheffield and his son Dr. Lucius T. Sheffield were the first to sell toothpaste in collapsible tubes. Before this time, dentifrice was sold in jars. After graduating from dental school in the late 1870s, Lucius studied and worked as a dental surgeon in Paris. While there, he saw painters prepare their palettes and realized that collapsible tubes, like those used for paints, could be used to apply toothpaste, which his father already manufactured. From 1880 to 1892, the Sheffield Dentifrice Co. purchased collapsible tubes to package their toothpaste. Then the company purchased manufacturing presses and fabricated machinery to create their own collapsible toothpaste tubes. Radioactive Toothpaste Doramad Radioaktive Zahncreme was a brand of toothpaste produced in Germany by Auergesellschaft of Berlin from the 1920s through World War II. It contained thorium, a radioactive metal. The company used thorium and rare-earth elements in the fabrication of industrial products; toothpaste was a byproduct. The radioactive toothpaste was promoted as imparting health benefits, including antibacterial action, and radiantly white teeth. At the time, the health effects of radiation exposure were not known. Toward the end of World War II, a group of German scientists stole a large amount of thorium in occupied France. Allied forces suspected that the scientists planned to use it in the refinement of uranium for an atomic bomb. However, a captured representative of the chemical company that the scientists worked for revealed that they planned to use the thorium to make toothpaste. 37 Issue 3 | 2025 |
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