Ancient Roman urine mouthwash
Mouthwash, as the best-selling oral product, is not a patent of modern people. People began to use mouthwash to clean their mouths in ancient Rome, but this mouthwash is not as advanced as modern ones. Ancient Roman mouthwash is not a chemical compound, but a natural human body fluid-urine.
Don't laugh, this is a patent invented by the ancient Romans. And these "mouthwash leaders" are particularly picky, using only bottled urine shipped from Portugal. Of course, there is also a saying that only Spanish bottles of urine are used. But no matter which choice, it was a "famous brand product" at that time. Due to the shortage of mouthwash in Portugal, the Roman emperor Nero, who was short of money, even thought of levying a "urine tax".
It is worth mentioning that, unlike Lu Xun's human blood therapy, which uses human blood steamed bread to treat lung diseases, there is a scientific basis for gargling with urine, because urea in urine can effectively clean the mouth and reduce the incidence of dental caries. The reason is simple: urea will produce ammonia, which is alkaline when dissolved in water, making the oral environment weakly alkaline. After the oral environment becomes "saline-alkali land", some bacteria cannot "settle down" here, thus playing a certain bactericidal role. In the18th century, Pierre Faucha, a French surgeon and the father of modern dentists, suggested that people who are losing their teeth should rinse their mouths with fresh urine in the morning and evening to protect their teeth. Up to now, there are still some African tribes who wash their hair and brush their teeth with cow urine.
"Ancient Rome" mouthwash is urine. How about "ancient China" mouthwash?
There are many kinds of ancient China mouthwashes. Tea was the most important thing in the early days, followed by clear water, and the most wonderful thing was saliva. According to the internal solution of Lao Zi's Yin, we should not only gargle with saliva, but also swallow it to achieve the purpose of health care. Later, the ancients invented a special decoction for gargling, such as boiled water with perilla agarwood and boiled water with cardamom. Perilla boiled water, Aquilaria sinensis boiled water and cardamom boiled water have the same advantages, and they are all fragrant and pleasant, so they can deodorize and freshen the mouth, but they seem to have little effect on protecting teeth. In addition to removing bad breath, these boiled waters have various other medicinal values. For example, perilla boiled water can treat chest obstruction, agarwood boiled water can treat toxic swelling, and cardamom boiled water has the effects of eliminating dampness and promoting qi circulation, warming and stopping vomiting.
These mouthwashes with medicinal value were regarded as "high-grade goods" in ancient China. Most ordinary people are not very useful. What they use most is clear water. Clear water has a cleaning function, which can make the mouth more hygienic, much better than saliva.
The gorgeous turn of modern mouthwash
With the development of the times, mouthwash has become more and more reliable. In the Qing Dynasty in China, people could buy more "serious" mouthwashes of various formulations in the market. However, at the beginning, this mouthwash was actually sold as a prescription for treating dental diseases, and its scope of use was not so extensive. But since it is used to treat dental diseases, there is no doubt about the role of protecting the mouth. After being targeted by daily chemical companies, it appeared more frequently in people's sight.
When mouthwash first entered the market, it was neglected and unfamiliar for a while, so it was not immediately accepted by people. It was not until it was associated with bad breath and urban love stories that today's prosperity was achieved.
Mouthwash has many names, such as mouthwash essence, tooth cleaning perfume, oral cleaning agent and so on. At present, the main components of mouthwash are essence, surfactant, fluoride, strontium chloride, alcohol and water, which not only helps to clean mucus and food residues in the throat, but also prevents dental caries, gingivitis and bad breath. Moreover, for different oral problems, functional mouthwashes have appeared, such as fluoride mouthwashes, anti-allergic mouthwashes, toothache mouthwashes and so on.
So many mouthwashes, which one do you like best?