My Digital Online Diary

Toilet Bacteria in your Toothbrush?

Just because our bathroom is always clean from that much scrubbing and sanitizing of the tiles, it’s the one room in the house where we are free of bacteria and germs. Far from that being the case, experts also warn about our oral hygiene, by keeping our toothbrush as farther away from the toilet as possible.

Recent research has shown that, even if we close the lid of the toilet as we flush, bacteria from it is sprayed all over, including on the toothbrush. Granted, the bacteria dies when the brush is no longer wet but, still, it is highly recommended we kept it in a drawer or in the medicine cabinet, preferably with a protection cover as well. Microorganisms are ejected when you flush the toilet and land all over the bathroom, even if you close the lid. But you probably won’t get sick from this because when the toothbrush dries, most of the organisms will die anyway. Just keep your toothbrush as far away from the toilet as possible, or put it in the medicine cabinet, he says. If someone in the house is ill and using the same bathroom as you are her germs could be spread this way.

What is important here is that even though some specific periodontal pathogens have been found to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, the total bacterial pathogenic burden is more important than the type of bacteria. In other words, the total number of ‘bugs’ is more important than one single organism. Although the research was not able to explain in detail how brushing could prevent a heart attack, it did show that oral hygiene was closely linked to overall health, but further research is to be done in this sense.