Abstract

Toothbrushes play an essential role in oralhygiene and are commonly found in bothcommunity and hospital settings. Toothbrushesmay play a significant role in diseasetransmission and increase the risk of infectionsince they can serve as a reservoir formicroorganisms in healthy, oral-diseased andmedically ill adults (Glass, 1992a; Downes et al.,2008). Contamination is the retention andsurvival of infectious organisms that occur onanimate or inanimate objects. In healthy adults,contamination of toothbrushes occurs early afterinitial use and increases with repeated use (CDC,2002). Toothbrushes can become contaminatedfrom the oral cavity, environment, hands, aerosolcontamination, and storage containers. Bacteriawhich attach to, accumulate, and survive ontoothbrushes may be transmitted to theindividual causing disease (Caudry et al., 1995;ADA, 2009).