In vitro evaluation of the microbial contamination on new toothbrushes: A preliminary study

Objective: The presence and survival of microorganisms on toothbrush bristles might play a role on the etiology of oral infections. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the presence of bacterial contamination on new toothbrushes before oral contact. Materials and methods: Forty toothbrushe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microscopy research and technique 2012-01, Vol.75 (1), p.42-45
Main Authors: Do Nascimento, Cássio, Scarabel, Thayla Tessa, Miani, Paola Kirsten, Watanabe, Evandro, Pedrazzi, Vinícius
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bacteria
Bacteria - growth & development
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Consumer Product Safety - standards
Equipment Contamination
Household Products - microbiology
light microscopy
oral microbiology
toothbrush
Toothbrushing - instrumentation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: The presence and survival of microorganisms on toothbrush bristles might play a role on the etiology of oral infections. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the presence of bacterial contamination on new toothbrushes before oral contact. Materials and methods: Forty toothbrushes from five different manufacturers were used in this experimental study. Each manufacturer was divided according to conventional local of obtaining: industry, drugstore, market, and perfumery. The toothbrush heads were completely immersed into tubes containing 5.0 mL of sterile peptonated water (dilution 1:10). A group of eight tubes containing the sterile solution was used as control. After 21 days of anaerobic incubation, occurrence of contamination was visually evaluated and confirmed by light microscopy. Results: Bacterial growth in the medium, indicative of bristles contamination, was found in a total of 19 out of 40 samples (47.5%) evaluated: 6 out of 14 samples (42.85%) from industry group, 4 out of 8 samples (50.0%) from drugstore, 5 out of 10 samples (50.0%) from market, and 4 out of 8 samples (50.0%) from perfumery. Only the toothbrushes with bristles coated with chlorhexidine did not show contamination. The Gram‐negative sporulating bacilli were the most prevalent form recovered. Conclusions: Except for chlorhexidine group, bacterial growth was observed in all groups evaluated irrespective local of obtaining. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:1059-910X
1097-0029
DOI:10.1002/jemt.21020