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Published on: October 20, 2011
Knowledge Evaluation and Assessment of Bacterial Contamination of Toothbrushes
A A L Moura-Filho1, J D Bronzato1, B P F A Gomes1
1Division of Endodontics, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, State University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Objectives:
This study aimed to quantify common microorganisms present in the toothbrushes of the participants and assess the level of their knowledge regarding this issue.
Methods:
Participants (n = 30) answered a questionnaire designed to elicit information which could be used to identify the habits regarding the use of toothbrushes and their storage. The participants were randomly selected and divided into two groups: Group 1 used a new toothbrush for 1 month and Group 2 used a new toothbrush for 3 months. Each participant was then instructed to store the toothbrush as usual and return it in a sterile bag. The toothbrush heads were cut for microbiological analyses. Cultivation media for the identification of Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacteriaceae were used and colony-forming units were counted after the incubation period. Statistical analyses were performed by using a two-way ANOVA test.
Results:
The majority of the participants had never received professional advice regarding the storage and disinfection of toothbrushes (93%) and they were unaware of the contamination degree of their toothbrushes (73%). It was not possible to verify a statistically significant difference between the 1-month and 3-month groups for S. mutans (p > 0.05). However, the evaluation of contamination by S. aureus and Enterobacteriaceae revealed statistically significant differences between these groups (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
It was concluded that S. mutans, S. aureus, and Enterobacteriaceae were found in the toothbrushes analysed. However, the poor knowledge of the participants about the degree of contamination of their toothbrushes is a challenge to overcome, as most of them were unaware of the care required for toothbrush storage.
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