Evaluation of microbial contamination of toothbrushes and their decontamination using various disinfectants: an invitro study

Background: Toothbrushes frequently become contaminated both during usage and storage. Despite the fact that previous research has mentioned a number of toothbrush disinfection techniques. There isn't quite a consensus on the subject as of yet. Aims: The objective of this study was to assess toothbrush bacterial contamination and disinfect it using different disinfectants. Subjects and Methods: In an in vitro trial, 100 participants with a gingival index score of two or three (Loe and Silness, 1963) were given toothbrushes, paste, and comprehensive instructions on oral hygiene. After a month, toothbrushes were gathered and subjected to aerobic culture testing for microbial contamination. Four groups (n = 20) of toothbrushes were given different treatments for one hour: Group A received 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate, Group B received Listerine, Group C received Dettol, and Group D received tap water. The brushes were further cultured after an hour in order to assess the effectiveness of each disinfectant. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16 program was used to carry out statistical operations. Chi-square analysis was used to perform inferential statistics. We defined statistical significance as P < 0.05. Results: After one month of use, all of the studied toothbrushes showed considerable (P < 0.001) bacterial growth. 17.1% of the brushes had Escherichia coli contamination on them. Dettol was the most efficient disinfection, showing a maximum of 95.3%, although all the tested disinfectants significantly (P < 0.001) reduced bacterial growth. Conclusions: Following use, toothbrush contamination increases dramatically; however, this is lessened following brush disinfection. All of the disinfectants, while not entirely successful, greatly decreased the amount of bacteria, with Dettol being found to be considerably more efficient than the other agents.