In a nation obsessed with sparkling teeth and minty-fresh breath, the lowly toothbrush is the king of inventions.
So say the findings of a new survey released Wednesday by the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which asked which of five inventions Americans could not live without. The toothbrush emerged the undisputed champ, beating out the car, the personal computer, the cell phone and the microwave -- in that order -- as the most prized innovation.
The folks who run the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index spend big bucks every year asking hundreds of people across the country what they think about inventions. The toothbrush finding has received the most attention, researchers said, because it shows that the public recognizes that great inventions don"t have to be complicated.
"It makes a lot of sense," said American Dental Association spokesman Dr. Richard Price. "Your teeth are always with you. ... You can always update your car or a computer, but you just can"t update teeth."