Toothbrush invention timeline: Identify the year commonly credited for the first bristle toothbrush. Full question: When was the toothbrush invented (in the sense of a bristle brush attached to a handle, as recorded in China)? Choose the correct option.

Given data

• Target: The historical year of toothbrush invention in the sense of a bristle brush on a handle.

Concept / Approach
Multiple milestones exist in oral-hygiene history. The question seeks the earliest bristle toothbrush—commonly credited to late 15th-century China.

Reasoning & milestones
Ancient chew sticks: used millennia earlier (e.g., Egypt/Mesopotamia). 1498: Chinese sources describe a brush with animal (hog) bristles fixed to a handle—first bristle toothbrush. 1780: William Addis began mass production in England. 1938: DuPont nylon bristles → modern toothbrush standard.

Common pitfalls
Equating earliest oral tools (chew sticks) with the bristle toothbrush form.

Final Answer
1498 (bristle toothbrush in China).