Sewak - Miswak - Siwak - مسواك - سواك
Organic Traditional Natural Toothbrush
$4.25 per stick, individually vaccuum packed in plastic
The miswak (miswaak, siwak, sewak, Arabic: سواك or مسواك) is a tooth cleaning twig made from the Salvadora persica tree (known as arāk, أراك, in Arabic). It is reputed to have been used over 7,000 years ago. The miswak's properties have been described thus: "Apart from their antibacterial activity which may help control the formation and activity of dental plaque, they can be used effectively as a natural toothbrush for teeth cleaning. Such sticks are effective, inexpensive, common, available, and contain many medical properties". It also features prominently in Islamic hygienical jurisprudence. The miswak is predominant in Muslim-inhabited areas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of the miswak in 1986, but in 2000, an international consensus report on oral hygiene concluded that further research was needed to document the effect of the miswak. Some of this further research has been done on a population of 203, and concluded, "that the periodontal status of miswak users in this Sudanese population is better than that of toothbrush users". Yet another comparative study conducted on a sampling of 480 Saudi Arabian adults found that "the level of need for periodontal care in the sample chosen is low when compared with the findings of similar studies undertaken in other countries. The frequent use of the 'Miswak' was associated with a lower need for treatment".
Main photo thanks to Iqbal Osman - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32005516