Aquafresh has conducted research into the microbiological condition of various brands of toothbrushes. In other words:the bacteria that hide in toothbrushes.
The study was conducted among 37 volunteers who had their toothbrushes checked every month . over a three-month period † After three months, an average of seven million bacteria found on toothbrushes.
E.coli bacteria
One of the bacteria found was the E.coli bacteria † This bacterium is found in large numbers in the intestines of mammals, on unwashed vegetables and raw meat † They also looked for other pathogenic bacteria. The researchers found five known microorganisms associated with caries and (infectious) diseases such as periodontitis †
Risks
Although based on the current results nothing can be said about a possible risk of infections , so there are a lot of disease-causing bacteria on our brushes. Dentists therefore advise their patients not to use toothbrushes for more than three months for good reason. †
In addition, brush wear can reduce the efficiency of plaque removal greatly reduce. In practice, however, it appears that toothbrushes are often used for a lot longer, sometimes even a year.
