Why is it that some people who have never used a proper toothbrush and/or toothpaste never suffer from cavities? While in the developed world people have gone as far as using electronic toothbrushes today, most of the world’s poor indigenous societies still resort to old-world techniques to clean their teeth.Although toothbrushes may be the standard for most urban dwellers today, when one ventures into the countryside, you will still find people waking up to search for twigs and tree branches with which to clean their teeth. The most popular is the eucalyptus tree, which is favoured by many people because of its fine texture, its fresh green scent, and perhaps because it is widely available in the countryside. So they break a twig into a handy size, and chew on one of the broken ends until it is soft enough for brushing purposes. Upon sustained chewing, most of the twigs splinter into finer strands, making them effective at flossing between the teeth. Most of the twigs leave a bitter after taste in the mouth, but who cares? Organic toothbrushes are cheap, natural, efficient and abundantly available.The World Health Organisation actually advocates the use of chew sticks in developing countries as a cheap alternative to the toothbrush.While in Africa they serve as toothbrushes, health stores in the US have been selling chew-sticks as a natural form of dental care for some time.Also called Licorice Root, these chew sticks have been known to treat problems of the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts for many years. It has also been used to relieve the symptoms of asthma, bronchitis, heartburn and indigestion.The same applies to toothpaste, which has several next best options where the factory made variety is out of reach or not favoured. There are people who still shun modern toothpaste to this day, preferring instead to use the time-tested charcoal, salt or ash for cleaning their teeth.Which raises the question: Are modern oral hygiene products and techniques better than the sticks and twigs that our forefathers have been using to clean their teeth for centuries? And is what one eats more important in determining oral hygiene than the materials used to clean the teeth and gums? If you decided to stick with your traditional diets and don’t eat processed sugar and junk food, is teeth-brushing even necessary at all? Should you then proceed to ditch your toothbrush and toothpaste and resort to sticks and ash instead? Maybe.