Edo period toothbrushing, handy chart by Edo lover Sasai Sayuri.
Brushing teeth as part of daily personal grooming spread among commoners during the Edo period as white teeth and good breath were highly regarded. (what about early periods/social class ? I’ll need to check on this!).
Drawn here is a kind of toothbrush called a fusayôji 房楊枝. It looks like a big toothpick with one end frayed into a tuft . They were made from soft wood like willow, boiled and then hammered with a mallet to created the tuft.Teeth were brushed using tuft, tongue cleaned with flat part of handle, and pick could be used to clean between the teeth. It was seen as proper to change one’s fusayôji everyday.
Toothpowder/paste (hamigakiko 歯磨き粉) was sold in public baths, temple and shrines. Many recipes existed (over 100 were registered in Edo city), but a pretty famous one was the Bôsô-zuna 房州砂 made from grinded sand from Bôsô peninsula (in Chiba prefecture East of now Tokyo bay). To the grinding powder, could be added chôji/cloves, hakka/peppermint, and other fragrances/flavors.
When people had bad teeth/cavities, commoners had few choices but pray the gods for it to go away, or have their teeth extracted (no anethesia at the time ^^;). False tooth/denture (ireba 入れ歯 ) also existed.
