The History (teeth cleaning) Of Hygiene; From Cobs Of Corn To Urine
No commentsBy Thomas Pretty
Many people will be curious about where the large product range that exists to service the hygiene needs of the modern world has come from. Has there always been a supplier of the hygiene product variety or is the trend we see today for exemplary personal hygiene just a symptom of the society we live in? What did people do in the past when they wanted to clean themselves, surely a hygiene product supplier wasn’t just around the corner to cater for their needs? Today we use deodorants, soap and toilet paper as well as many others, was life in the past just a lot smellier?
We can be pretty certain that the average human in the developed world is a lot more aware of hygiene issues thanks to the product range at their disposal. In the past, while certain products would have been available from a supplier, on the whole people were smellier and hence more accustomed to the body odour of others.
Soap is a hygiene product that has in fact been around for thousands of years. It is believed that the ancient Mesopotamians used soaps for cleaning skin and clothes. These soaps were manufactured by boiling animal fats and then mixing this with ash from the fire. So in fact, a supplier who sold soap would have been prominent in Mesopotamian society. These soaps were undoubtedly harsh and abrasive on the skin.
The Romans and Greeks had a different method of maintaining hygiene, but instead of using a product like soap, oils such as olive oil were applied to the skin. The oil, after it had been rubbed all over the body was then scraped off with what was called strigil; a curved piece of wood that resembled a sickle. While this may have moisturised well, the benefits to hygiene may have been limited.
Deodorant on the other hand is a far more modern invention than soap although the process of perfuming our bodies to mask a smell is relatively old. This type of hygiene product can be seen as a development from the perfumes of the pre-eighteen hundreds that were sold by a supplier to the royal and aristocratic families. Spare a thought though for the ancient Egyptians, in order to prevent lice being a problem they shaved all the hair on their body and wore wigs, thankfully the hygiene product range today does not require such drastic action.
Rolled toilet paper was not invented until the mid-nineteenth century. Records show that to maintain levels of hygiene people used all manner of items to clean themselves. These range from the rather obvious leaves and scraps of cloth to the extraordinary moss and even cobs of corn; yes, honestly cobs of corn! Romans used a sponge on a stick that they took with them wherever they went, especially the legionaries. Some cultures in the east even used their left hand, which is still why in many countries it is still forbidden to use your left hand at the dinner table.
The hygiene product range has obviously entered into the oral world, and dental hygiene has been an important element in the development of the range our supplier may offer today. People have strived to clean their teeth and mouth for centuries, but whether these methods have been effective is debatable. The ancients are believed to have rubbed ground pumice and ash around there mouths mixed with scented herbs. Using a frayed stick to scrub the teeth and even reportedly using urine as mouthwash. Whether this created fresher breath is doubtful and the damage caused by the abrasive materials may have even done more harm than good.
These rather unsavoury methods of maintaining hygiene are certainly a long way from the supplier range offered to us today. Seemingly it is clear that people have always made the effort to be hygienic but it is only in the modern era that this has truly been achieved.
Health expert Thomas Pretty looks into how the hygiene product supplier has been prominent in history through the ages.
How To Get Rid Of Bad Breath
By Paul Hata
More than 20 million people are suffering from bad breath (chronic halitosis in medical terms). In most of the cases it starts due to problems in gums and tongue. Bacteria causes odour in the mouth and this occurred from the decomposed food particles and other debris in ones mouth and poor oral hygiene. The decay and debris create a sulphur compound, which causes an obnoxious odour.
Many rumors circulate from time to time about the cause of chronic bad breath, or halitosis. One can almost rule out the theory of bad breath coming from places other than the mouth. The esophagus is collapsed normally and air can only escape in the form of the occasional burp. If your mouth and teeth are healthy you should first check the dorsum, or that area on the back of the tongue.
Although the postnasal drip doesn’t have an odor when it first reaches the tongue, it develops one as it sits there. To combat the source of bad breath, gargle with an effective mouthwash and then actually clean the tongue thoroughly with a tongue scraper or a toothbrush without toothpaste on it. One may find this procedure uncomfortable due to the fact that it triggers the gag reflex, but in time this subsides.
Home check up for the bad breath
After ruling out the mouth, the tongue and infected teeth, the next area is to investigate the nose and the nasal passages. If a person is suffering from sinusitis or another bacterial infection, a blockage of the airway or dry nasal mucous it can lead to bad breath.
If the patient breathes our through their nose and the odor is similar to that exiting the mouth, the nose is most likely the culprit. In this case an ear, nose and throat doctor should be contacted for further investigation of the problem. A dry mouth which can be caused by medications or stress can cause bad breath. If this is the cause some chewing gum to get the juices flowing again should remedy the situation.
Conclusion
Flossing is a very important habit to develop. It has been shown that people who make a habit of flossing have cleaner, more pleasant smelling mouths. The floss removes the buildup of bacteria from between the teeth.
A bacterium lodged in the mouth is a very common source of mouth odor. In short, there are many products out there to help control chronic bad breath. Chronic bad breath could be a symptom of lung infections, bronchial infections, metabolic disorders, carcinomas or biochemical disorders, however, the mouth and the nose are usually where the problem originates.
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Creating The Brilliant Smile You Deserve
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under Creating The Brilliant Smile You Deserve. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
