Sanitizing toothbrushes?

Question

What s the proper way to sanitize a totthbrush?

Answer 1

You can purchase a toothbrush sanitizer (at any drug store, discount store or ebay) or do it yourself. Here are a few ways:
1. dip it in equal parts of water and hydrogen peroxide after each usage
2. allowing brush to dry is very effective...micro-organisms grow in moist environments
3. soak in anti-bacterial mouthwash before air-drying

Please note, the American Dental Association has found no evidence to support that sanitizing your toothbrush benefits your health. They do recommend making sure your toothbtush dries completely between usages and replacing your toothbrush every 3 months.

Answer 2

The best-known "independent dental testing lab" just published an article on disinfecting toothbrushes. (January 2007) "After an illness, your toothbrush should be renewed either by discarding and starting new or by disinfecting the old one." While a new toothbrush is cheap enough, you (or your child) just might have a favorite that you are not ready to throw away.

Testing a regular dishwasher, an ultraviolet light designed for disinfecting toothbrushes, air drying and heating in a microwave, the test group found that the ONLY method among these that is effective is running the toothbrush through a full cycle in the dishwasher. Place the toothbrush in the utensil rack with the bristles up and let it remain in the dishwasher through the complete cycle, including the drying cycle. This reduced bacterial load from up to 4 million organisms per toothbrush to less than 50. If your dishwasher has some sort of clipping mechanism to hold the brush in place, it might be a good idea to use it so it doesn't get flushed out of the utensil basket. The other three methods simply were not effective and are not recommended.