Specific Purpose: To elucidate to the audience the evolution of the practice of using mouth wash and the ingredients used to make it. Introduction I. The debate on what to choose a. Time frame and conflict with planned family outing b. The decision made – morning hygiene II. Cave man analogy Body I. Ancient societies use of mouthwash A. Ancient Egyptians cave drawings [1500-1300 B.C.] (Shannon L. Pace, 2006) B. Many cultures incorporated mouthwash into religious ceremonies (Nuntus, 2002) C. Breathe Fresheners [1000 B.C.] i. Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans chew on eucalypti’s, peppermint, cinnamon, and vanilla bean (Moore) ii. 500 B.C. advancements 1. Chinese and previously mentioned societies chewed on charcoal powder (later with mint leaves added) 2. Greeks used donkey milk iii. Other ingredients used include: rabbit & mice heads, lizard liver, and ground shells D. Introduction of “ammonia” iv. Romans discovered cleaning properties of “hartshorn” (Moore) 3. Hartshorn: a derivative from antlers and hooves of the red deer. 4. When ground and added into cleaning solution, demonstrated many ammonia type characteristics v. This could have led to the most interesting and perhaps widely used ingredient – human urine 5. The Romans specifically liked Portuguese Urine (Nuntus, 2002) 6. Naturally high acidity of Portuguese urine thought to be stronger and could survive long trip to Rome and Italy (Moore)
II. Key evolutions to modern mouthwash (Moore) E. Anthony van Leeuwenhoek vi. Discovered bacteria in the 1670’s vii. Tried different methods of controlling bacteria in the mouth without success F. English physician, Joseph Lister, M.D. viii. Performed the first
Cited: (n.d.). Moore, S. (n.d.). How Tos: History of Mouthwash. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/about_4596013_history-of-mouthwash.html Nuntus, S. (2002). Oral and Dental Hygene: History of Mouthwash. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from Essortment: Essortment Shannon L. Pace, D. I. (2006, September 18). The Evolution of Mouthwash. Inside Dental Assisting , pp. 11-12. Organizational Pattern: Chronological I felt this was the best pattern to choose to show the evolution of the product. Topic Relevance I chose an origin speech over a how to because of the ease of adapting the speech to the time frame and location. I specifically chose this topic to be random. I felt it was a good probability the other students would not choose a random topic as this and perhaps you as the instructor would not have had this subject prior. It is relevant because although trivial, it is educational. Secondly, it may just save a relationship; who knows. Seriously, most go to school in order to advance in their chosen fields; bad breath could be detrimental to this endeavor.