A short strip of rigid plastic, a thumb sized cluster of nylon bristles. As long as there's been civilization, there has been the toothbrush. The ancient Egyptians used frayed twigs, later the Chinese had the idea to use animal hairs attached to bamboo handles. The pre-agrarian tribes did not brush their teeth. Was it because they lived lives so short they did not care? Or because they had no care for the future preferring to live, like children, in the eternal present? No, these are two common misconceptions of tribal life, in truth it was simply because they had no need for brushing. Their teeth remained healthy and white a whole lifetime long, thanks to a diet without sugar or flour. It was only when civilization made these our staples, filling our bellies at the cost of our enamel, did we have need to artificially maintain our teeth, ensuring they would remain working at the task they were not made for.
The toothbrush, on the species level a symbol of the last four thousand years of the human story. An early link in the chain of invention through which creatures made for scavenging the savanna have bootstrapped their way into climate controlled cubes full of luminescent screens. Masters of the Earth who, like all kings, rarely get to see for themselves the kingdom they have won.