THE SCIENCE

A NEW, CLEAN TOOTHBRUSH IS ESSENTIAL EVERY TIME YOU BRUSH

“The most commonly known dental plaque management method is brushing the teeth, and this is a general method of maintaining oral health and of preventing dental diseases. Brushing the teeth removes the dental plaque, food residue, and stain attached to the tooth surface, and adequately massages the periodontal tissue. Hence, it is the most important, basic, and effective method of preventing dental diseases, and of maintaining oral health [11,12].”

“a significant association between dental caries infection of the tooth surface and bacterial contamination of the toothbrush has been reported .[12,13] Therefore, proper toothbrush management is needed to manage dental plaque by brushing the teeth [12,14].”

CONTAMINATION OF YOUR TOOTHBRUSH OCCURS AFTER ONE USE

Toothbrushes play an essential role in oral hygiene and are commonly found in both community and hospital settings [10]. Toothbrushes may play a significant role in disease transmission and increase the risk of infection since they can serve as a reservoir for microorganisms in healthy, oral-diseased and medically ill adults [1]. Contamination is the retention and survival of infectious organisms that occur on animate or inanimate objects. In healthy adults, contamination of toothbrushes occurs early after initial use and increases with repeated use [2, 3]. Toothbrushes can become contaminated from the oral cavity, environment, hands, aerosol contamination, and storage containers. Bacteria which attach to, accumulate, and survive on toothbrushes may be transmitted to the individual causing disease [4, 5].

YOUR TOOTHBRUSH CONTAINS POTENTIALLY PATHOGENIC BACTERIA AND VIRUSES

All of the studies examined toothbrush contamination and found significant bacterial retention and survival on toothbrushes after use [6, 7, 10]. Glass found that toothbrushes from both healthy patients and patients with oral disease contained potentially pathogenic bacteria and viruses such as Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Pseudomonas, and herpes simplex virus [1 ,10]. Glass also found toothbrushes contaminated with herpes simplex virus 1 in numbers sufficient to cause an infection in the patient [1 ,10].

YOUR TOOTHBRUSH BECOMES MORE
CONTAMINATED WITH ONGOING USE

Bunetel et al. found that toothbrushes used by patients with existing oral disease quickly became contaminated [8]. This study also found a significant relationship between repeated use and bacterial retention on toothbrushes and that the oral cavity can be inoculated from a contaminated toothbrush. Caudry et al. found that toothbrushes are heavily contaminated with normal use [5]. Mehta et al. found that 70% of the toothbrushes in their study became heavily contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms after use [9, 10].

TOOTHBRUSHES USED REPEATEDLY OVER TIME HAVE MILLIONS TO BILLIONS OF BACTERIA

Jeong et al. reported that the toothbrushes used at home have millions to billions of bacteria, which contaminate the oral cavity when used in brushing the teeth [12, 14]. Thus, people brush their teeth every day for dental health, but they are not aware of the bacteria remaining on their toothbrushes.

Glass et al. emphasized that infection due to a contaminated toothbrush can be a risk factor not only for dental health but also for the general health [11, 12], and Caudry et al. reported that toothbrush contamination increases the dental caries [5]. 

Toothbrushes can become contaminated through contact with the environment and bacterial survival is affected by toothbrush storage containers. [10, 15]

TOOTHBRUSH BRISTLES ARE A PERFECT
RESERVOIR FOR BACTERIAL GROWTH AND CHANGING THE TOOTHBRUSH DAILY SHOWED A “SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION” IN ORAL BACTERIA

Bunetel etal. found that bacteria become trapped inside the bristles of the toothbrush [8].Toothbrushes with bristles that are frayed retained more bacteria [15].Glass also found that pathogenic bacteria adhere to plastic after short exposure times [1]. Caudry et al. found that bacteria strongly adhere to the bristles [5]. Mehta et al. found that the retention of moisture and oral debris in the bristles increased bacterial survival [9, 10]. Pai V. concluded “It may be a sound practice to change the toothbrush as frequently as possible” [17]. Sachdev R. et al concluded that there was a “highly significant decrease in oral microorganisms” when comparing use of daily disposable toothbrushes to monthly disposable toothbrushes in the same study subjects [18]. Sachdev R. et al also concluded “As self contaminated multiple-use toothbrushes can aid microorganisms to grow rapidly into the oral cavity, it may be preferable to change the toothbrush as frequently as possible” [18].