the average UK citizen will brush their
teeth over 40,000 times in a lifetime
using a staggering 80 litres of
toothpaste and it's like a routine part
of our everyday lives but the only time
we think about it is when it runs out
now that's a shame because toothpaste is
fascinating stuff tooth care remedies
have been around for thousands of years
the world's oldest surviving formula is
Egyptian and it was made from mint
flowers salt and pepper it dates to the
fifth century AD and by all accounts it
worked very well although it did have
the nasty side effect of making your
gums bleed having said that it was far
less hazardous than some 20th century
brands in the Second World War German
scientists from the nuclear industry
developed a radioactive toothpaste with
thorium for their domestic home market
it clings it kills germs it's
radioactive fantastic now why didn't
that catch on so thorium wasn't a great
idea but other additives were much more
successful in 1901 a dentist in Colorado
Springs noticed that locals had far
fewer cavities than was the norm
the reason was eventually tracked down
to high natural levels of fluoride in
the water from this basic observation
fluoride and quickly became the dental
wonder additive of choice so what goes
into modern toothpaste and how does it
work well the number one ingredient is
something abrasive you know something to
scrub your pearly whites
for this toothpaste manufacturers
typically use baking soda or chalk or
even silica which is a refined type of
sand then many ad whitener flavoring
something to make it foam something to
bind it all together and finally
fluoride now did you know you can make
your own toothpaste out of simple
household ingredients for this recipe
all you need to do is mix three
tablespoons of baking soda with one
tablespoon of salt then add three
teaspoons of glycerine mix them all
together with a dash of water and
finally add one teaspoon of peppermint
and hey presto do-it-yourself toothpaste
for a proper test of its effectiveness
I'm going to stain my teeth with
liquorice I have some very sugary pop
now further madder treat
[Music]
now my teeth feel awful so let's put
this homemade toothpaste to the test
okay that goes cheerfully feel good what
better
she tastes squat minty slow abrasive is
incredibly salty what cleaning my teeth
well so much better and hopefully my
teeth look a bit cleaner
hmm homemade toothpaste it works