Why sanitize toothbrush

If you still want to use boiling water, heat water in a tea kettle or in a pot on your stove. Once it boils, turn the heat off and dip your toothbrush in for 30 seconds or so. In addition to hot water and mouthwash, you can use denture cleansing solution to disinfect your toothbrush. Denture cleanser is made up of antimicrobial ingredients that target bacteria and plaque that grow in your mouth.

Dissolve half a cleansing tablet in a cup of water and dip your toothbrush in it for 90 seconds to get your brush extra clean. You can also invest in an ultraviolet UV light sanitizer product made specially for toothbrushes. One s tudy comparing UV light chambers made for toothbrushes with saline solution and chlorhexidine gluconate solution found that UV light was the most effective way to disinfect toothbrushes. For the most part, you can sanitize an electric toothbrush head the same way that you disinfect a regular toothbrush.

Make sure to disconnect the toothbrush head from the electric base before putting anything but toothpaste and warm water on your toothbrush. A study showed that keeping your toothbrush in a small cup of hydrogen peroxide is an economical way to keep bacterial growth to a minimum. Swap out the hydrogen peroxide each day before putting your toothbrush down, bristles first, into the cup. Throwing multiple toothbrushes together into a cup can cause bacterial cross-contamination among the bristles.

If there are multiple people in your household, keep each toothbrush a couple of inches apart from the others. This plume spreads harmful bacteria all over the surfaces in your bathroom, including your toothbrush. You can prevent these bacteria from contaminating your toothbrush by storing it in a medicine cabinet with the door closed. Or, you may simply keep your toothbrush as far away from the toilet as possible. Bacteria from your toothbrush can get on any toothbrush covers and storage containers you may use to hold your toothbrush.

Make sure to clean any toothbrush covers and containers every 2 weeks to keep harmful bacteria from taking hold. Covering a wet toothbrush can lead to more bacteria growth on the bristles. Your toothbrush can harbor bacteria from your mouth. When most people may not benefit greatly from a toothbrush sanitizer, individuals people who are sick or have an increased chance of developing infections may benefit from taking preventative steps.

Some of those steps might include more often replacing toothbrushes, buying disposable brushes, and using antibacterial mouthwash for rinsing and soaking toothbrush heads.

To learn more about dental hygeine, please call Friedman Dental Group at Join Our Newsletter! While sharing your brush may seem harmless—and even convenient—it can actually lead to a number of problems. You see, sharing your toothbrush could expose your mouth and body to bacteria, viruses, and even blood borne pathogens.

Finally, even if you do all of these things, you should still replace your brush every four months. Also, please note that if your toothbrush begins to show signs of wear, or if the bristles break off, you should replace it immediately.

To learn more about what you can do to keep your toothbrush as it could be—or to learn more about why you should worry about your brush—please feel free to contact Bull City Dental at