In movies and books about Vikings, the ancient seafaring conquerors don’t pause their revelry to remove gristle from their teeth with toothpicks. But in real life, they did, according to a new ...

The toothpick is the oldest dental cleaning tool around. Fossils of 7,500-year-old teeth indicate that humans were using wooden sticks to clean their teeth well before the advent of toothbrushes.

Pretty much every home has them. After all, who can resist having a bit of food resting between their teeth for a long time? Toothpicks are great for touching up minor defects, rather than taking ...