Why do modern humans need toothpaste?

Question

Obviously, humans only invented toothpaste a short while ago, in comparison with the millions of years of human evolution. So why did someone feel the need to invent toothpaste? Did the quality of our teeth suddenly degrade within the past era of modern civilization? Do all non-human animals have bad breath? What happens if people stop using toothpaste?

Answer 1

The quality of our teeth didn't degrade, the quality of our health improved.

A caveman living to an old age of 25 didn't care too much about loosing a tooth at 24. He was busy worrying about living to 26.   It is too bad too, because if he lost all his teeth it could be the end of him.  But you, having to worry about fewer things, and a 75 year life expectancy, if you don't brush your teeth and you spend over half your life toothless.  So we try make teeth last 75 years instead of 25 years.  And it is only a generation ago that such things were common, teeth lasted half your life.  If you stop using toothpaste and ignore your dentist, then YOU (don't include me in your crazy experiment) go back to the archaic old solution - false teeth.

The other thing is we do consume way too much processed sugar that wasn't common to most cultures.  Soda and coffee are around more too.  That stuff just eats away at your teeth.

Answer 2

Not the quality of our teeth degraded but the foods we eat make them.  We're not living in the stoneage when all we at were eating was organic fruits and vegatables and caught our fish or deer.  Todays foods and drinks are filled with glucose and other types of sugars.  So eventually if you dont brush you'll lose.

Answer 3

Technically, unless the toothpaste you use has fluoride in it and I'm not sure that any of them do, it is useless. The only part about brushing your teeth that does any good is the actual and literal scraping away of plaque from the teeth and gums. And this was accomplished back in the middle ages if not before that when they used teeth scrubbers made out of wood and shaped like a very mini shovel to fit the teeth. If we did not brush our teeth, even given our modern diets of abrasive and sugar-ridden foods, cavities or "dental carries" would form and our teeth would fall out, make eating difficult and otherwise cause us pain. Hence, the better care we now take with our teeth. Hope you floss too!

Answer 4

You gum and teeth shot to h**l.

Answer 5

Well, I'm sure that the condition of our teeth has improved while we use toothpaste, otherwise the dentists wouldn't tell us to use it.  It cleans our teeth.  Not to mention the fact that it keeps away bad breath!

Answer 6

to combat the erosive effects of modern foods

many of these foods did not exists in ancient times ,

but tooth decay did ,and people also cleaned their teeth with natural things before dental floss and they probably also used manmade mouth cleaning things

dont underestimate rich peoples sophistication in old civilizations concerning ,medicines ,cosmetics ,and toiletry.

Answer 7

It is wrong to tell that toothpaste was invented a short while ago.

The earliest known reference to a toothpaste is in a manuscript from Egypt in the 4th century A.D., which prescribes a mixture of powdered salt, pepper, mint leaves, and iris flowers. The Romans used toothpaste formulations based on human urine, whose ammonia was probably effective in whitening teeth.

Answer 8

Well, it has mostly to do with candy.  Way back in the day, humans didn't eat such concentrated sugary snacks. Such sugars are responsible for most of your tooth damage.  So in response to the need to remove these sugars effectively, we have tooth paste.

Answer 9

Teeth are cleaned better with toothpaste than without. If you don't clean your teeth, cavities will form, and bacteria will grow in them. These bacteria have been associated with heart problems later in life. Also, your teeth will fall out. This didn't matter when our life expectancy was 50 years or less, as it was a few hundred years ago, but these days, you don't want to be sucking porridge until you're 90, do you?

Answer 10

We don't need toothpaste. According to a dentist I one had, toothpaste is useless. Cleaning your teeth with baking soda is much more productive.

Answer 11

Cavemen didn't drink Coca-cola!

High sugar levels today, as well as lower calcium intakes, means that teeth will decay faster now, than in previous millenia, and do not have the strength that a high protein/calcium diet provided in the distant past. However, as some foods were more coarse and raw (unprocessed), actual wear on the teeth was greater.

Answer 12

until recently the food wasn't as processed so cavities were not a problem.

Answer 13

The beginnings of tooth decay in modern humans coincides with the beginnings of agriculture. Skeletal remains show clearly that earlier populations kept healthy teeth longer into their lives. Cultivated grains tended to be bad for dental health, at least worse than wild fruits, vegetables, and meats, and a semi-sedentary lifestyle had some health problems associated with it, too. It was a tradeoff, of course. Agriculture has some real advantages, but allowing us to concentrate our grain and sugar supplies like that led to cavities. Even the ancient Egyptians suffered from tooth decay.

So toothpaste is a modern invention, but it would have been handy for the last 5000 years or so. Note that the toothbrush was invented hundreds of years ago.