Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Whisky, microwave or hairdryer? Exploring the most efficient way to reduce bacterial colonisation on contaminated toothbrushes

British Dental Journal volume 225, pages 1007–1010 (2018)Cite this article

Key Points

  • Toothbrush bristles are crammed with oral and environmental pathogens. Even when left untouched for 24 hours, toothbrushes remain highly contaminated.

  • Hairdryer heat or immersion in whisky cannot disinfect toothbrush bristles satisfactorily within a minute.

  • Microwave oven cooking seems to be an effective technique to overcome bacterial contamination of toothbrushes.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Images of the whisky bottle before (left) and after (right) the study, demonstrating the highly significant reduction of its content.
Figure 2

References

  1. Kumar S, Gupta R, Arora R, Saxena S . Severe oropharyngeal trauma caused by toothbrush. Br Dent J 2008; 205: 443–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Umibe A, Omura K, Hachisu T, Anazawa U, Tanaka Y . Life-threatening injury caused by complete impalement of a toothbrush: Case report. Dent Traumatol 2017; 33: 317–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kirk A D, Bowers B A, Moylan J A, Meyers W C . Toothbrush swallowing. Arch Surg 1988; 123: 382–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cobb C M . Toothbrushes as a cause of repeated infections of the mouth. Boston Med Surg J 1920; 183: 263–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Celepkolu T, Toptancı I R, Erten Bucaktepe P G et al. A microbiological assessment of the oral hygiene of 24-72-month-old kindergarten children and disinfection of their toothbrushes. BMC Oral Health 2014; 14: 94–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Amézquita-Montes Z, Tamborski M, Kopsombut U G, Zhang C, Arzuza O S, Gómez-Duarte O G . Genetic Relatedness Among Escherichia coli Pathotypes Isolated from Food Products for Human Consumption in Cartagena, Colombia. Foodborne Pathog Dis 2015; 12: 454–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Franz C M A P, Stiles M E, Schleifer K H, Holzapfel W H . Enterococci in foods—a conundrum for food safety. Int J Food Microbiol 2003; 88: 105–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Richards D . How clean is your toothbrush? Evid Based Dent 2012; 13: 111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Johnson D L, Mead K R, Lynch R A, Hirst D V L . Lifting the lid on toilet plume aerosol: A literature review with suggestions for future research. Am J Infect Control 2013; 41: 254–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gerba C P, Wallis C, Melnick J L . Microbiological Hazards of Household Toilets: Droplet Production and the Fate of Residual Organisms. Appl Microbiol 1975; 30: 229–237.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Donofrio R S, Bechanko R, Hitt N et al. Are we aware of microbial hotspots in our household? J Environ Health 2012; 75: 12–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kramer A, Schwebke I, Kampf G . How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on inanimate surfaces? A systematic review. BMC Infect Dis 2006; 6: 130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Naik R, Ahmed Mujib B R, Telagi N, Anil B S, Spoorthi B R . Contaminated tooth brushes–potential threat to oral and general health. J Family Med Prim Care 2015; 4: 444–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Ankola A V, Hebbal M, Eshwar S . How clean is the toothbrush that cleans your tooth? Int J Dent Hyg 2009; 7: 237–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Razavi A, Gmür R, Imfeld T, Zehnder M . Recovery of Enterococcus faecalis from cheese in the oral cavity of healthy subjects. Oral Microbiol Immun 2007; 22: 248–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gelsomino R, Vancanneyt M, Condon S, Swings J, Cogan T M . Enterococcal diversity in the environment of an Irish Cheddar-type cheesemaking factory. Int J Food Microbiol 2001; 71: 177–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Basman A, Peker I, Akca G, Alkurt M T, Sarikir C, Celik I . Evaluation of toothbrush disinfection via different methods. Braz Oral Res 2016; 30.

  18. Chandrdas D, Jayakumar H L, Chandra M, Katodia L, Sreedevi A . Evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy of garlic, tea tree oil, cetylpyridinium chloride, chlorhexidine, and ultraviolet sanitizing device in the decontamination of toothbrush. Indian J Dent 2014; 5: 183–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Li H, Ganzle M . Some Like It Hot: Heat Resistance of Escherichia coli in Food. Front Microbiol 2016; 7: 1763.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Clark C W, Witter L D, Ordal Z J . Thermal injury and recovery of Streptococcus faecalis. Appl Microbiol 1968; 16: 1764–1769.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Ransom W H . Disinfection by heat. BMJ 1874; 1: 788–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Woo I-S, Rhee I-K, Park H-D . Differential Damage in Bacterial Cells by Microwave Radiation on the Basis of Cell Wall Structure. Appl Environ Microbiol 2000; 66: 2243–2247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. McDonnell G, Russell A D . Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance. Clin Microbiol Rev 1999; 12: 147–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Sykes G . The influence of germicides on the dehydrogenases of Bact. coli: I. The succinic acid dehydrogenase of Bact. coli. J Hyg (Lond) 1939; 39: 463–469.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Mrs G. Maxwell for spoof-reading the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Clinic of Orthodontics and Pediatric, Dentistry, Plattenstr. 11, Zurich, 8032, Switzerland

    R. Patcas & M. Schätzle

  2. Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8032, Switzerland

    R. Zbinden

  3. Clinic of Preventive Dentistry, Periodontology and Cariology, Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8032, Switzerland

    P. R. Schmidlin & M. Zehnder

Authors
  1. R. Patcas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Zbinden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Schätzle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. R. Schmidlin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Zehnder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Patcas.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Patcas, R., Zbinden, R., Schätzle, M. et al. Whisky, microwave or hairdryer? Exploring the most efficient way to reduce bacterial colonisation on contaminated toothbrushes. Br Dent J 225, 1007–1010 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.1030

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.1030

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links