The First Toothpaste in the World

The world’s oldest-known formula for toothpaste, used more than 1,500 years before Colgate began marketing the first commercial brand in 1873, has been discovered on a piece of dusty papyrus in the basement of a Viennese museum, the Electronic Telegraph reports.

In faded black ink made of soot and gum arabic mixed with water, an ancient Egyptian scribe has carefully described what he calls a powder for white and perfect teeth. When mixed with saliva in the mouth, it forms a clean tooth paste.” This document of the fourth century C.E. lists the ingredients as rock salt, mint, dried iris flower, and grains of pepper​—all crushed and mixed together.

The discovery created a sensation at a dental congress held in Vienna. “Nobody in the dental profession had any idea that such an advanced toothpaste formula of this antiquity existed,” said Dr. Heinz Neuman, who tried it and found that his “mouth felt fresh and clean.” The article states: “Dentists have recently discovered the beneficial properties of the iris, which has been found effective against gum disease and is now in commercial use.”