The first version of oral hygiene involved chewing on a stick. And earliest examples were found 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The first bristle toothbrush was invented in China during the Tang dynasty (619-907). They had a great variety of bristles, with hog, horse, or boar hair not being uncommon.

It’s a little unclear when the now-widely-used version was invented, but in Germany, in 1700, Christoph von Hellwig, was selling a version by mail. Meanwhile, in England, William Addis created the first European  mass-produced toothbrush in 1780.

The synthetic fiber version was introduced by DuPont in 1938. Toothbrushes gained popularity after World War II because all the soldiers had to brush their teeth regularly as part of their daily hygiene routine, introducing the habit to a wider population.

The global toothbrush market size was valued at around $7 billion in 2023.