THURSDAY, June 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — individuals victimization communal loos with several others, beware: There may well be traces of poop on your toothbrush.
So finds a study by researchers at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.
The researchers analyzed toothbrushes from Quinnipiac students WHO used communal loos with a median of over 9 users per lavatory.
Regardless of the students’ toothbrush storage ways, a minimum of sixty % of the toothbrushes were contaminated with excretory product, the investigators found.
There was conjointly AN eighty % likelihood that excretory product on the toothbrushes came from another person victimization the lavatory.
The findings were conferred on at the annual meeting of the yankee Society for biological science in city. the information and conclusions ought to be viewed as preliminary till printed during a peer-reviewed journal.
“The main concern isn't with the presence of your own excretory product on your toothbrush, however rather once a toothbrush is contaminated with excretory product from somebody else, that contains microorganism, viruses orparasites that don't seem to be a part of your traditional flora [microbes],” study author Lauren Aber of Quinnipiac University, aforesaid during a society news unleash.
Her team found no distinction within the effectiveness of ways wont to clean toothbrushes, like rinse with gargle, or cold or plight.
In addition, “using a toothbrush cowl doesn’t shield a toothbrush from microorganism growth, however truly creates AN atmosphere wherever microorganism area unit higher suited to grow by keeping the bristles damp and not permitting the top of the toothbrush to dry out between uses,” Aber explained.
“Better hygiene practices area unit suggested for college kids WHO share loos each within the storage of their toothbrush however conjointly in personal hygiene,” she said.
People ought to follow the yankee Dental Association recommendations for toothbrush hygiene, Aber instructed. Those recommendations are:
Do not share toothbrushes
Rinse the toothbrush with H2O once use and store it upright to permit it to dry
If toothbrushes area unit in same holder, certify they're way enough apart to stop cross-contamination
Do not use toothbrush covers
Replace toothbrushes a minimum of once each four months