May 1936: A woman with her toothbrush.
(Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)It’s something that most people don’t think about until it’s visually noticeable or necessary. When was the last time you changed your toothbrush? There may be some people who regularly schedule a toothbrush replacement, but I don’t know any of those people.
Before we get into the dirty details about how important it is to change your toothbrush on a regular basis, see what you think about this.
Some people claim to have used the same brush their entire adult lives. While I am guilty of keeping the same toothbrush longer than advised, I ain't that.
Related: Mouthwash After Brushing?
Wait, it get worse.
Family Shares Toothbrush
There’s at least one family that changes their brush regularly. However, they all use the same toothbrush. I will rephrase that to avoid misunderstanding. The entire family shares one toothbrush.
I have never thought of, considered, or heard of this. According to TikTokker @jazminer17, her family uses the same one until it wears out.
She posted, “My family of six shares the same toothbrush. It's one of the expensive ones. We finally upgraded like a couple of months ago, and this is a Colgate. The last toothbrush we had was blue. So I went with pink to change it up. But I love having a family toothbrush because you literally do not have to have so much storage. Like it's one toothbrush. But I absolutely love our toothbrush, and it's gonna last forever. Well, at least a couple of years, I would say.”
I have so many questions regarding this.
- Is it safe? No. A quick Google search reveals that sharing a brush causes “potential for transferring bacteria and viruses.”
- What do you do when someone travels without the others? I suppose they have to suffer the expense of purchasing another one.
- Wait, what?
Honestly, I’ve accidentally used my wife’s brush on occasion, but to intentionally share one with five other people seems disgusting and unnecessary.
When It’s Time to Change Your Brush
A new study by Risas Dental has revealed what they call a hidden hygiene crisis in New Jersey. Their survey found that 49% of residents admit they don’t change their brush every three months as recommended.
To find the dirty truth, they used ATP bioluminescence testing, which is commonly used in hospitals. They learned that some brushes tested carried up to 77 times the safe level of bacteria, with the highest test hitting 4,635 RLUs (Relative Light Units), compared to the safety threshold of only 60.
Check out the full study here.
