{"id":279,"date":"2025-10-16T21:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T21:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2025-11-11T21:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:12:34","slug":"oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"How Did the Pilgrims and Native Americans Take Care of Their Teeth?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Pilgrims<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We are all looking forward to the delicious meals that we will share with our friends and family. The options are endless: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and much more! As this exciting holiday approaches, it is the perfect time to learn a little bit more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans, including how they cared for their smiles. Read on to learn more about what oral hygiene<\/a> looked like for people at this time in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Diet for the Pilgrims and Native Americans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Native Americans were expert hunters and gatherers. Their diet consisted of mostly corn, beans, squash, fish, and wild game. They also ate a lot of fresh fruit and nuts. This helps to keep the plaque off their teeth. Since their diet was so high in fiber, Native Americans, on average, has well-maintained teeth and gums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, the pilgrims who first colonized America relied more on preserved food, as they embarked on long journeys. They stocked their ships with salted dried meat, dried fruit, and dried biscuits. All of these foods were terrible for the teeth, as they easily stick and lead to tooth decay. Since water distillation wasn\u2019t very good at the time, the sailors didn\u2019t drink a lot of it. Drinking water could easily result in sickness and even death. They mostly drank beer and wine because it was safer. Due to their acidic, this meant stained teeth and tooth decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oral Hygiene for Pilgrims and Native Americans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Native Americans would clean their teeth using chewsticks. These were twigs that were frayed on the end to be used for brushing. The other end could be sharpened and used as a toothpick. Additionally, Native Americans at the time would chew on pine needles and fresh herbs, like sage and mint, for extra freshness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the pilgrims, things weren\u2019t so fresh. Toothbrushes were not widely produced until about a century after they came to America. The sailors were left with very unhealthy oral conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Native Americans have much healthier teeth than the pilgrims after their long voyage across the ocean. Once thing that we call all be grateful for this Thanksgiving is a healthy smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Scott Parker<\/a> earned his dental doctorate from Loma Linda University. Since then, he has been committed to continuing education to keep his knowledge and skills sharp. Currently, he is a proud member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, and Tri-County Dental Society. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit his website<\/a> or call (909) 795-6019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We are all looking forward to the delicious meals that we will share with our friends and family. The options are endless: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and much more! As this exciting holiday approaches, it is the perfect time to learn a little bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scott Parker DDS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"scottparkerteam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"scottparkerteam\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"scottparkerteam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0\"},\"headline\":\"How Did the Pilgrims and Native Americans Take Care of Their Teeth?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pilgrims-Small-1024x928.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/\",\"name\":\"Oral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pilgrims-Small-1024x928.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0\"},\"description\":\"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2319},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Did the Pilgrims and Native Americans Take Care of Their Teeth?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scott Parker DDS Blog\",\"description\":\"Scott Parker DDS - Family Cosmetic Dentistry\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0\",\"name\":\"scottparkerteam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"scottparkerteam\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.calimesadentist.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/scottparkerteam\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS","description":"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS","og_description":"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/","og_site_name":"Scott Parker DDS Blog","article_published_time":"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":2319,"url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"scottparkerteam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"scottparkerteam","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/"},"author":{"name":"scottparkerteam","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0"},"headline":"How Did the Pilgrims and Native Americans Take Care of Their Teeth?","datePublished":"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/"},"wordCount":455,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-1024x928.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/","url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/","name":"Oral Hygiene of Pilgrims and Native Americans, Calimesa | Scott Parker DDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-1024x928.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-16T21:06:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-11T21:12:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0"},"description":"As Thanksgiving is approaching, you may be wondering more about the lives of the pilgrims and native Americans. Here\u2019s how they cared for their teeth.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pilgrims-Small-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2319},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/2025\/10\/16\/oral-health-pilgrims-native-americans\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Did the Pilgrims and Native Americans Take Care of Their Teeth?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/","name":"Scott Parker DDS Blog","description":"Scott Parker DDS - Family Cosmetic Dentistry","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e0adad6cd949ff0d1aef1c26fd53c7e0","name":"scottparkerteam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caff44c6c89f571a1b4c5f163413d691903ee47899df3c70a0199485731b99f2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"scottparkerteam"},"url":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/author\/scottparkerteam\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calimesadentist.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}