Use of the plastic bibs as we know them have been around for a long time - see for instance fig. a, a screenshot from the 1963 comedy film A Stitch in Time, showing a clear plastic tie-on bib, very similar in shape to the ones we know and love today.
However, the 1970/80s appears to be the point where plastic bibs as they are today first appeared, although in different form - they could be thicker and have much larger collars for instance. See fig. b, a shot from a 1987 video where the high collar is in evidence. fig. c is from even earlier, a BBC archive film of Belfast in 1975, shows a clear (although very dirty!) bib again with that high collar. Unfortunately not much photographic evidence exists of bibs prior to the 1990s - if you can help expand this, please contact!
This 'retro' period, from these early days in the 70s right up until the early 2000s, was characterised by much variety. See fig. d, an ITN clip from 1993, of a white Sensodyne branded bib (Sensodyne had branded bibs in use up until only about 10 years ago or so, more later). I've also heard tale of a very different type of bib, a mottled grey one with brown lining - information and pictures if you might by chance have any appreciated!
Fig. e shows what I'd say is a fairly typical 90s scene - it's always difficult to tell these sort of things because invariably different photo quality and lighting is difficult to account for, but to me it looks more of a latex type material rather than PVC, perhaps a sign of the variety there used to be?
Of course, to look at the bib scene around the turn of the millennium, one must not forget the ones that ignored complex technologies such as velcro - of course I refer to tie-on bibs, Fig. f an example of which. They of course would have been up to the nurse to tie on - perhaps an incentive not to annoy the nurse too much, otherwise she'd do it up just a bit too tight! I have always associated them with the 90s and 00s, but apparently they were in use into the 2010s as well - more info needed!
There was much variety back in the 2000s of course - for instance, Sensodyne seemed to be a sponsor of bibs. See Fig. g for one in use - this was a fairly standard bib branded and sponsored rather than a unique kind of their own of course. Fig. h is an example of a more unique one - this dark blue bib seemed to be common for use on child patients during the 2000s. Again help would be appreciated as I'd very much like to know if it was ever used on adults, so photos or experiences please!
Fig. i is another unique bib, a white one branded for Pierre Fabre Oral Care (me neither). This apparently dates to the 2000s... which makes it rather odd I have seen videos of it in use at a dental practice in 2022 (fig. j)! How a 15-20 year old bib made it that long to be used is a mystery to me, answers on a postcard please!
Also in use in the 2000s was this type of bib with a shinier plastic and crucially, as far as I can tell no pocket (I saw a tweet a long time ago from a woman at the dentist confused as to why her bib had a pocket, so she'd have liked this kind!). I've seen little evidence of this beyond fig. k but this type is of particular interest to me, so any help welcome!
Variety aside, the main types of bib in use in this country are those made by Astek Pegasus and UnoDent. These two types of bib have a reasonably complicated history, but generally it can be found that the Pegasus ones tend to have a shinier finish to them while the UnoDent ones a duller, more matt finish. See two from my own collection for reference (fig. l), Pegasus on the right, Uno on the left.
UnoDent in particular though have had an interesting history - almost as common as the plain blue ones at one stage were ones in a different shade of blue with 'UnoDent' written on them (fig. m). These also came in white (fig. n) and a clear plastic (fig. o). These are thought to have been introduced around 2013 or so, with earlier ones remaining in use for a few years afterwards - see this much shinier (fig. p) one, or this one (place in chronology unknown!) with a higher collar (fig. q).
These are mostly things from around ten years ago though - while the branded UnoDent bibs are also still used in some places from what I've heard, the vast majority of plastic bib still used today are unbranded blue Pegasus or Uno ones, which only really have the surface finish in terms of difference. The days of variety are long behind us, but at this point, the mere existence of plastic bibs themselves is enough of a blessing! (See yours truly in a bib a couple of years ago in fig. r)
This section will likely be updated in the future as I get new information (or more likely think of new detail I missed) but in the meantime, your help would be appreciated! Anything I've written here jog a memory, or just have a memory of a plastic bib at the dentist in general? No matter how old or new, I'd always love to hear them, so get in contact :)
