Our relationship with our toothbrush is complicated. Most of us don't brush our teeth well enough. We don't brush long enough, or we brush too hard, or we keep our toothbrushes so long that tests would show it to be about as clean as our toilets.
Why the cold shoulder for our toothbrush? We can buy a Bluetooth-connected smart toothbrush that sends real-time feedback on how well we're brushing. Game apps make the process fun.
While the toothbrush may seem like an unwanted date you're forced to kiss twice a day, it's one of the most brilliantly basic and intimate objects we own. Toothbrushes are democratizing and ubiquitous, shared by all regardless of race, class or culture. They care for the teeth that form human speech.
They are humanizing.
Today, a look at toothbrushes: the long history, the local history, the present, and the big questions: electric or manual and if manual - soft, medium or hard? Yes, this is about toothbrushes.
C'mon people (and dogs.) Give a little love to your toothbrush.
GUESTS:
- Mark Burhenne - Dentist who blogs at Askthedentist.
- Clare Dolan - Chief Operating Philosopher at the Museum of Everyday Life
- Stan Sherer - Photojournalist, documentary filmmaker of The Brush Shop, member of Board of Trustees for Historic Northampton
- Terry Minnick - Last local owner of Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Brush Company in Northampton
- Deborah McCullough - Artist and activist
- Dr. Andrew Flint - Veterinarian at Litchfield Hills Mobile Veterinary Clinic in Norfolk CT
You can join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
