Nabila El Allali El Hamdaoui, Milena Knezevic, Milan Knezevic, Mario Manuel Vicente-Barrero.
Cross section study and analysis of toothbrushes contamination and disinfection. Study of 101 toothbrushes emloyed from the people of different ages. Head and neck. Russian Journal. 2020;8(2):45–51 The authors are responsible for the originality of the data presented and the possibility of publishing illustrative material – tables, figures, photographs of patients.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25792/HN.2020.8.2.45-51
Introduction: The toothbrush has become the obligatory and essential complement of the human being and has proven to be effective in the elimination of the bacterial plaque. The present study seeks to know the contamination of this vital tool, since the toothbrush can accommodate microorganisms and therefore become a possible source of infection for the individual. Also, it is important to recommend to the population some method of disinfection to properly preserve this element, therefore, in this investigation we will use chlorhexidine as a disinfectant.
Objective: To study and describe the results obtained from the microbiological culture of a series of toothbrush samples as well as the effectiveness of 0.12% chlorhexidine in the decontamination of said toothbrushes.
Methodology: Cross-sectional study in which the toothbrushes of 101 people of different ages were included. For this, the bristles of said toothbrushes were collected individually and under sterilized conditions, and then transported to the Microbiology service of the Maternal and Child University Hospital Complex, where the type of contamination after the crop was identified. Each subject was given a survey with different variables, as well as informed consent for the study. In addition, 36 samples were immersed in a solution of chlorhexidine to assess the effectiveness of decontamination.
Results: 47.5% of the toothbrushes analyzed were found to be contaminated by the usual microbiota of the mouth and 27.7% by gram-negative bacillus bacteria. Chlorhexidine reduced the load on the bacterial load and even managed to completely disinfect some of the toothbrushes.
Conclusions: In 75% of toothbrush samples, despite being apparently well preserved, microorganisms of the usual microbiota were isolated from the mouth and gram-negative bacilli.
- All electric toothbrushes were contaminated by habitual microbiota of the mouth and gram-negative bacilli.
- Chlorhexidine solutions have been shown to reduce the bacterial load of toothbrushes because it would be convenient to recommend their use as a disinfection method.
Key words: Toothbrushes, Chlorhexidine, Disinfection
Conflicts of interest. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Funding. There was no funding for this study.
For citation: Nabila El Allali El Hamdaoui, Milena Knezevic, Milan Knezevic, Mario Manuel Vicente-Barrero.
Cross section study and analysis of toothbrushes contamination and disinfection. Study of 101 toothbrushes emloyed from the people of different ages. Head and neck. Russian Journal. 2020;8(2):45–51
The authors are responsible for the originality of the data presented and the possibility of publishing illustrative material – tables, figures, photographs of patients.