who invented tootpick?

I don’t know who actually invented it but it has been used for years. Read this from Wikipedia:

The toothpick has existed for thousands of years; it is probably the oldest instrument for dental cleaning. Toothpicks are well-known in all cultures. Before the toothbrush was invented, one cleaned one’s teeth with hard and soft dental woods. Toothpicks made of bronze have been found as burial objects in prehistoric graves in Northern Italy and in the East Alps. It was also well-known in Mesopotamia.

Before man devised the axe he may have invented the toothpick! Anthropologists now believe that early men,as they sat around the fire after a hard day’s hunting, picked their teeth—after chewing the meat they had killed—with sticks cut to a sharp point.

Evidence of Stone Age toothpicks is indirect but compelling, say anthropologists.

The evidence? Marks on fossil teeth.Analysis of these marks has led to the consensus that they were made by heavy toothpick use by our early ancestors.

The grooves were especially common in the teeth of Neanderthals who lived in Europe and Asia, about 100,000 years ago. Similar markings have been found in the fossilized Teeth of both American Indians and Australian Aborigines.

It is said that the tyrant Agathocles was killed in 289 BC through by slow working poison, which a favourite slave gave to him in a toothpick.

There are delicate, artistic examples made of silver in antiquity, as well as from mastic wood with the Romans.

In the 17th century toothpicks were luxury objects similar to jewelery items. They were formed from precious metal and set with expensive stones. Frequently they were artistically stylized and enamelled.

Nowadays, since the advent of modern dentistry, the use of toothpicks is rather rejected, and aids such as dental floss and toothbrushes are preferred. Due to recent breakthroughs in flavouring technology, the toothpick continues to remain popular with many people.

Maine is the leading producer of toothpicks.

In South Korea, to encourage people to be more environmentally friendly, some companies make edible toothpicks. They are made of sweet potatoes. These toothpicks are clear looking and soften slowly when exposed to hot water.

This was the first mass production of toothpicks by machine.

In 1872, Silas Noble and J. P. Cooley patented the first toothpick-manufacturing machine.

Talaga naman, pati ba naman toothpick?! : ) Well, actually hindi ko alam….hehehe! : ) Some have answered well, at least now we know who came up with it. O diba, using a toothpick now would be more meaningful, thanks to your question. : )