Why the Toothbrush? A riotous journey into oral hygiene

Your bathroom is home to something that has been with us for just a few hundred years, but without it, our health would be so much poorer.

The toothbrush has become part of our daily routine, but it’s roots go way beyond what lives in your bathroom cabinet today.

This episode takes in its beginnings as a natural tool, through to Napoleon (again), President Jefferson and how a riot in the UK led to the first commercial toothbrush going on sale.

Host, Ben Diamant; a Creative Innovator and inventor of consumer goods, finds out:

· What led to the bristles and handle coming together

· Why World War Two played a big part in us brushing twice a day

· Who was behind the first toothbrush as we know it

· Where our assumption that before the toothbrush we all had bad teeth came from

· And when looking after your teeth became more important than simply replacing them

Ben is, as always, joined by design expert Phil Staunton, founder of D2M Product Design, to pick over the wonder of washing machine's design.

This episode's guest, looking at the future of the toothbrush is Simon Enever, formerly the Founder and CEO of quip and now the Founder of So&So. He explores if we will have laser toothbrushes, and What form will oral hygiene take in the future, will it even include bristles?!

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LINKS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonenever/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bendiamant/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/philstaunton/

https://www.design2market.co.uk/

Concept and Podcast production by: https://www.gingerwizard.co.uk/