Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Toothbrush Grossness

A while back I heard or read a newstory about the germs that are on our toothbrushes. I'm talking fecal matter! GROSS! In middle school we did a project where we had to swab various surfaces and let them cultivate in a petri dish. That was quite traumatizing, and I never looked at a drinking fountain the same after that. 

I'm still pretty obsessed with having a clean toothbrush and right now mine is in my medicine cabinet with a cover on the head, but I think I need to go further than that. I think I need this:
Photo Credit: violight.com

It's Violight's's Zapi, a toothbrush sanitizer. I came across this product while reading InStyle and I think it's a fabulous idea! At around $30 it's very affordable too.

The reason why toothbrushes get so dirty is from the spray released when the toilet is flushed. That's why it's very important to first close the toilet before flushing and keep the toilet closed when not in use. That is unless you want fecal matter in your mouth. 

Want to learn more about fecal matter on your toothbrush? Read this.

4 comments:

  1. I got a UV toothbrush sanitizer a couple years ago for Christmas. lol. Yes, for Christmas. I, too, can get a little obsessed over that stuff. I totally understand the train of thought here, so don't get me wrong when I say this - I was reading about this stuff also, and one article I read made a great point, your toothpaste should be killing everything anyways. So, that's another way to look at it. I'll still keep my UV sanitizer, though. Although, I like the ones you posted better then the one I have. I may have to get a couple of those now.

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  2. Let me start by saying that what you decide to do with your toothbrush is your decision and I respect that. However, the article you linked to is stretching the truth. The Mythbusters episode it references did in fact find fecal matter on every toothbrush used in the study; however, every toothbrush had very low levels of fecal matter. Also, as the expert pointed out those microbes that were found could have come from contamination from the water, toothpaste, or human touch during the experiment. The expert notes that the levels found are nothing to worry about as they could not make a human sick.

    Several years ago in a college microbiology class we all performed research projects. One group chose this topic as their research project. Their results were much the same as Mythbusters.

    Since then I've never worried about the proximity of my toothbrush to the toliet as it seems to have no real effect on the number of germs. We live in a world full of germs. Just think of all the germs we probably come into contact with each day through touching, eating, and drinking. The human body has many lines of defense to keep these "bad" germs out.

    Anyway, my point was that the article overexagerated the findings it referenced. Here's the link to the episode if you'd like to see it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeAOC3A0xJ8

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  3. Oh gross! lol
    Thanks for the info about the toothbrush sanitizer - Ive never heard of such a thing, but its a great idea!

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  4. @Sarah thank you sarah for posting the mythbusters link! i love that show. i'll admit my link wasn't the most scientific, but i've seen the toilet spray and felt the splash so for now i'll stay paranoid! even if mythbusters' test showed no fecal matter at all, the thought of toilet spray going on anything that goes in my mouth just doesn't sit well with me. i guess it's my own neuroses ;-)

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