The effects of the tuft design and toothpaste on the residual microbial contamination of toothbrushes

Objective: Toothbrushes may become contaminated after a single use by a wide array of microorganisms which are present both in the oral cavity and in the external environment. The retention and survival of microorganisms may depend on brush design and toothpaste usage. We aimed to investigate the effect of the brush tuft design and the use of toothpaste on the cariogenic microbial contamination of toothbrushes. Method: Totally 11 dental students whose salivary mutans streptococci levels were >106 cfu/mL, brushed their teeth using toothbrushes with two different tuft design using once at one-week intervals. The experiment was also repeated using a triclosancontaining toothpaste. After use, each toothbrush was rinsed under running tap water for 10 s and four tufts were processed for total bacteria, mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeast counts using culturing techniques. Microbial colony-forming units for a given brush type for the same volunteers were compared using Wilcoxon test. Results: No statistically significance was found in terms of mutans streptococci, lactobacilli, yeast and total bacteria adhesion between the two types of toothbrushes (p>0.05). Brushing with toothpaste, OZET Amac: Dis fircalari ilk kullanimlarindan itibaren agiz ve cevre yuzeylerde bulunan mikroorganizmalarca kontamine olurlar. Firca killarinin dizayni ve dis macunu kullanimi bakterilerin killara tutunmasini etkileyebilir. Calismamizda; kil demeti dizayninin ve dis macununun dis fircalarindaki curuk yapici mikroorganizma kontaminasyonuna etkisinin belirlenmesi amaclanmistir. Yontem: Bu calismada; tukuruk mutans streptokok duzeyi >106 cfu/mL olan toplam 11 dis hekimligi ogrencisi dislerini bir hafta aralikla ve birer kez killari farkli tasarlanmis iki ayri firca ile fircalamislardir. Deney triklosanli bir dis macunu kullanilarak tekrar edilmistir. Fircalar kullanildiktan sonra 10 saniye musluk suyu ile yikanmis ve her fircadan dorder kil demeti kopartilarak, kantitatif kultur teknikleri ile total bakteri, mutans streptokoklari, laktobasiller ve maya yonunden incelenmistir. Istatistiksel degerlendirme Wilcoxon testi ile yapilmistir. Bulgular: Her iki firca tipinde de streptokoklar; mutans, laktobasil, maya ve toplam bakteri tutuculugu acisindan istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir fark bulunmamistir. Macun kullanimi ile firca Turk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi 1 Istanbul Universitesi, Dis Hekimligi Fakultesi, Mikrobiyoloji ABD, ISTANBUL Gelis Tarihi / Received : Kabul Tarihi / Accepted : Iletisim / Corresponding Author : Nursen TOPCUOĞLU Istanbul Universitesi, Dis Hekimligi Fakultesi, Mikrobiyoloji ABD, ISTANBUL Tel : +90 212 414 25 95 E-posta / E-mail : nurtopcu@istanbul.edu. tr 10.08. 2010 24.08. 2012 DOI ID : 10.5505/TurkHijyen.2012. 69672 Topcuoglu N, Balkanli O, Yaylali D, Kulekci G. Kil demeti dizayni ve dis macununun dis fircalarindaki mikrobiyal kontaminasyona etkisi. Turk Hij Den Biyol Derg, 2012; 69(4): 219-24. Cilt 69  Sayi 4  2012 Turk Hij Den Biyol Derg 220 Toothbrushes may become contaminated after a single use by a wide array of microorganisms which are present both in the oral cavity and in the external environment (1-3). Microorganisms can remain viable on toothbrush bristles for periods ranging from 4 hours to 7 days (4-6). Therefore, the routine use of contaminated toothbrushes might contribute to disseminate microorganisms within the oral cavity (7). Caries risk is high at the individuals with high salivary mutans streptococci (MS), lactobacilli (LB) and yeast levels. The survival of the cariogenic microorganisms on the brushes of these persons can cause the persistence of caries risk by reinoculation. The retention and survival of microorganisms may depend on brush design and the quality of the plastic and bristles. The influence of brush design and quality of the bristles on the microbial retention was investigated in several studies (7, 8). But there is no study which shows the effect of the tuft design on microbial contamination of toothbrushes. In response to these reports, several studies have focused on methods of toothbrush disinfection. A simpler way of reducing the microbial load on a toothbrush is by using toothpaste. Recently, antimicrobial toothpastes that contain triclosan have been introduced; triclosan is a compound commonly used for disinfection. To date, there are only few studies on these toothpastes which show their effect on the residual microbial contamination of toothbrushes (4-6). We aimed to investigate and compare the retention of cariogenic species on two types of toothbrushes manufactured by the same company with different tuft design and the impact of triclosan-containing toothpaste on the microbial contamination. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study population The study was performed at Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry, in 2008. Totally 11 dental students (five girls, six boys) with a mean age 19.5 years (range 19-21) whose salivary mutans streptococci levels were >106 cfu/ml were included in this study. Written informed consent was obtained from all volunteers which was approved by the Local INTRODUCTION EFFECT OF TUFT DESIGN AND TOOTHPASTE ON TOOTHBRUSH uzerindeki bakteri sayilari belirgin olarak azalmis (p 0,05). Sonuc: Agiz mikroorganizmalari dis fircalarina kolaylikla kolonize olabilmektedir. Dis macunu dis fircasi kontaminasyonunu belirgin olarak azaltirken, bu calismada kullanilan kil demeti dizaynlarinin kontaminasyonda etkisi bulunamamistir. Dis fircalarindaki mikroorganizma yukunu azaltmak icin gelistirilmeye calisilan yeni teknolojilere ragmen, triklosanli dis macunu kullaniminin bu konuda etkili ve kolay bir yontem olarak kullanilabilecegi dusunulmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Curuk yapici mikroorganizmalar, dis fircasi, dis macunu, kil demeti dizayni significantly decreased the bacteria on toothbrush bristles (p 0.05). Conclusion: The oral microorganisms can quickly colonize on toothbrushes. Toothpastes can significantly reduce contamination of toothbrushes but the tuft design of the toothbrushes used in this study does not affect their amount. Despite trying to develop new technologies, the use of triclosancontaining toothpaste seems to be an effective and easy way of reducing microbial load on the toothbrushes.