The Effect of Using Dettol, Salt and Hot Tap Water in Elimination of Toothbrush Contamination

• Author Details:   
• Farah Rami Saleh

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 Regularly used toothbrushes can be heavily contaminated with microorganisms, while inappropriate storage may increase microbial load on these toothbrushes. Toothbrushes Microbial contamination can help transmitting many diseases, especially for people with mouth and/or Gum problems. This study aims to find the easiest and most available way to sterile toothbrushes at home. 24 adult volunteers were divided into four groups, the first three groups were asked to sterilize their toothbrushes with Dettol, water salt and hot water, while the fourth group toothbrushes were the positive control.Results showed that toothbrushes sterilized with Dettol gave the least contamination rate of 12.5%, toothbrushes sterilized with salt came next with 37.5%, while toothbrushes sterilized with hot tap water were the next with 50%. The toothbrushes of the fourth group which was used as the positive control were totally contaminated with different types of bacteria. Six bacterial agents were isolated; they are Staphylococcus Sp., Streptococcus Sp., Bacillus Sp., E.coli, Pseudomonas Sp., and Salmonella Sp. It was concluded that the use of Dettol were very effective in reducing the number of contamination of toothbrushes but it's unacceptable flavor limiting its use. Other volunteers were comfortable with the use of salt and hot water as it was almost effective. The research suggests a group of recommendations to avoid the transmission of pathogens through toothbrushes and ensure healthy usage.

Keywords:Toothbrushes, Contamination, Gums, Dettol, Salt, Hot water.