Wolkerstorfer
curator of the Museum for the history of dentistry and dental technology Linz Austria
Biography
The aim of this presentation is to show the way of the invention of the modern toothpaste and the life of the genius, who started this part of consumer goods industry. Therefore the authors investigated recordings of the pioneer in this field of products, that were never published before and many contemporary and new historical references. From the making of candles, soaps and perfumes to toothpaste there were 50 years of research, big investments and fights against sly and powerful competitors and authorities, to form a company that was strong enough to establish the beginning of modern oral hygiene within 25 years, using methods of modern medicine, biology, jurisprudence, advertising and industrial procedures. In the upcoming nationalism and the resulting restrictions in trade together with shortage of raw materials, that reached a first high point in world war one and the period, that followed, like many in those years, this company failed at last. The inventor of the toothpaste was forced to sell his knowhow and some of his brand names. But because the name of the first modern style toothpaste became so popular since the last decade of the 1880ies, that in some succession countries of the long vanished multiracial state the name is still used as a synonym for toothpastes in general. Besides do You know, that most dentists and medical doctors of that time did not like toothpastes at all? In our presentation we can show you unique documents and pictures from the days, when dentistry started to change from repair oriented point of view mainly to an attitude focused on prophylaxis.
Abstract
Abstract : The birth of Modern toothpaste