Brushing Teeth during Japanese occupation.?

Question

Hi, I am compiling some of the stories that I can remember from when my grandpa used to tell. One of them was about during Japanese occupation in Malaya. He said times were so bad that he and the rest of the family would brush their teeth in coal/charcoal. Is there any truths in this story? Sadly he did not lived long before I could verify this story when i was much older with a more inquisitive mind.

Answer 1

Most of us were not alive for the Japanese occupation, and those that were were very young.  

Answer 2

Nylon is made from coal and nylon is in toothbrushes so technically we use coal to brush our teeth now. I don't know much about the conditions during Japanese occupation.

Answer 3

When I was a child in Liverpool we used to brush our teeth with soot so there is some connection there.That was in 1930

Answer 4

His story of using charcoal, was not something that was attributed to

the war years that I know of. I was told and shown by a young man

many years ago, that his father had shown himself and his brothers

how he had used charcoal to whiten his teeth, when he was poor and

growing up during the depression. It was something that they just did

in their household. And it was passed to the younger generation. I

had always noticed that this young man had the whitest of teeth. And

he took a piece of charcoal from the fireplace and chewed a bit of it.

Just to show me, he wasn't kidding. Possibly, the charcoal was used

as a substitute for tooth paste back in the day. They had tooth powder

you made into a paste in your hand and not something squeezed from

a tube. I remember those early years of mine, and remember watching

my dad make such a big deal out of brushing his teeth for a long time.

He never had cavities tho.

Answer 5

I don't know anything about the Japanese occupation but I do know that charcoal is one of the oldest teeth cleaners around.  In much of Asia it's the only thing used.  Charcoal makes your teeth very white.  You can still buy charcoal powder for teeth.  BTW, you can brush your teeth just fine with plain water.  It's the brushing motion that cleans the teeth.  Toothpaste just makes the job more pleasant.