Toothpaste Flavors Throughout History

Whether you like minty freshness or the heat of cinnamon, everyone has their favorite flavor of toothpaste. However, throughout history, people have had some interesting choices in flavors for their early versions of toothpastes.

Myrrh
Ancient Egypt used the powdered ashes of various substances for their toothpaste, including pumice and oxen hooves. The most flavorful part of their substance was powdered myrrh, which is known for its smoky, balsamic aroma, but not necessarily for its flavor.

Charcoal and Bark
Ancient Romans weren’t very fond of the flavor of their powdered toothpaste, so they added some ingredients to improve it. Tree bark and charcoal were apparently the perfect solution. Why? Who knows?

Ginseng, Herbal Mints, and Salt
Around 500 B.C., the people of China started using ginseng, herbal mints, and salt to flavor their toothpaste. Though we may think ginseng flavored toothpaste as odd, the Chinese were obviously a step ahead of the Romans.

Anything Goes
Today, we are familiar with good old mint flavored toothpaste to clean our teeth and freshen our breath. However, there are a wide variety of toothpaste flavors on the market including pickle, blueberry, chocolate, pine, honey, orange, strawberry, curry and bacon.