Hygiene
Keeping teeth clean, white, and healthy has preoccupied human beings for thousands of years. Practices and ingredients have varied, and have included everything from rosemary rinses to using one’s own urine as a mouthwash (Bennion, 1986). The dental pot lids in this section represent the gamut of tooth pastes, powders, and soaps available during the nineteenth century, many of which seem odd or even caustic by modern standards. Because of their attractiveness, these lids became highly collectible and have survived, sometimes with the accompanying pot intact. They are exhibited alongside sterling silver toothbrushes made in France, which may be compared to their modern counterparts. This section of the exhibit is full of the kind of objects with which we are all very familiar-- toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwash, and toothpaste-- all of which invite us to explore the ways in which they have changed (or not!) over time.
