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Ancient Greek art depicting two hunters
Before the toothbrush was invented, many cultures invented their own ways to clean the teeth. Ancient Greeks and Romans were said to use toothpicks to pick particles of food out of their teeth. Without the use of and toothbrushes, the people during this time still managed to maintain optimal . How is this possible? The truth is, the amount of tooth decay a person experiences has little to do with dental hygiene and everything to do with the type of diet you consume.
If we look into the types of foods the ancient Greeks ate, we can see the correlation between the right diet and optimum dental health. The Greeks were actually one of the first cultures to realize sweet foods could harm your dental health. As a result, they ate a diet that consisted of the right types of minerals, nutrients and fat-soluble vitamins needed for strong, healthy bones and teeth. The ancient Greeks mainly consumed, "... a varied diet. Vegetables, legumes, and fruit were the mainstay, and fish was a favorite. Hunting brought game to the menu." (Gaifyilla) The fruits they ate were not like the fruits we have today, which are usually treated with chemicals and pesticides. The fruits they consumed were also not as sweet as the ones we have today, as they did have not have access to , such as bananas, until the 15th century when the Americas were discovered.
Their diet mainly consisted of vegetables, fish, and dairy products. They also consumed a lot of meat including deer, lamb, pheasant, boar, and goose. With animals being caught in the wild, we can presume that they ate grass-fed land animals. This plays an important part in your dental health, because these foods contain the necessary vitamins and minerals to . This shows that tooth brushing is not the best way to prevent cavities and tooth decay; it is actually the types of foods you eat and what nutrients you are consuming that matter the most.
Reference:
The history of teeth cleaning. July 20, 2004. Retrieved from:
Ancient civilizations teeth cleaning Retrieved from:
Did Ancient teeth Decay? May 28, 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/05/28/2244461.htm
Gaifyllia, Nancy. What did the Ancient Greeks eat? Retrieved from:
Photo Credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen / (Public Domain)
7:07 pm on January 21, 2012 Permalink
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