What do you think is the dirtiest thing in your house? Do you believe it’s the grease-spattered wall behind your stove?
Or perhaps you are thinking like most, that it must be your bathroom. Perhaps the toilet seat, especially if you have boys that tend to miss the inside.
Well according to a microbiologist, it could be your toothbrush. In fact, you might even be brushing your teeth not just with toothpaste and water but what is inside your toilet. Ewwww.
This depends on your setup. If your bathroom sink is right next to the toilet and you keep your toothbrush right on the sink’s counter, you could be exposing it to contaminated water vapors. Every time you flush your toilet these vapors are emitted into the air, landing on your toothbrush.
If you’re thinking you are out of the woods because you don’t keep your toothbrush near the toilet, think again. A failure to properly rinse your bristles could also cause contamination because of the blood, saliva, food debris and bacteria that is removed when brushing. And if there is a community of toothbrushes being stored next to each other, there is the risk of cross-contamination.
I don’t care how many times your boys have missed the toilet seat, nothing compares to the 10 million microbes found on the average toothbrush. These microbes (or bugs if you want to make it real) contain germs such as staphylococcus, herpes, gum disease and streptococcus.
So although you might think your cleaning habits in the home are pretty good, think again. You might need to spend more time focusing on the toothbrush.
And to keep it clean, never share it with someone else (that’s just gross), don’t store toothbrushes together, rinse thoroughly after each use, and be sure to replace it after you have been sick and every three to four months no matter what.
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