The toothbrush, in one form or another, has been around since 1498 when the emperor of China had hog bristles embedded in a bone handle. However, not until Dr. H.N. Wadsworth submitted the first patent for a toothbrush in the United States (number 18,653) on November 7, 1857, did this ubiquitous tool move into common usage in the United States.

Hiram Nichols Wadsworth was born in Burlington, Vermont, in February, 1819, one of a family of six children.  Dr. Wadsworth spent a part of his earlier life in Ohio and in the State of New York.  He graduated from Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (the first dental school in the world), with the class of 1853, and relocated to Washington D.C. where he practiced until 1893 when failing health compelled him to retire.

HN Wadsworth was a direct descendent of William Wadsworth of the ship Lyon, landing in the newly formed Plymouth Colony in 1632.  H.N. Wadsworth died at his residence in Washington D.C., on October 9^th, 1896 at the age of seventy-six.