How to Properly Sanitize Your Toothbrush Posted on 10/10/2017 by Sundberg Office While most people brush their teeth daily, few give much thought about how to keep a toothbrush sanitary. Just putting toothpaste on the brush daily is not enough to sanitize it in-between uses, and you are putting a bunch of bacteria and other unhealthy compounds into your mouth if you don’t take the proper steps. If you’re wondering what you can do to effectively sanitize your brush, read on to learn a few simple tricks that you can use to get the job done.
Soak in Mouthwash
One simple trick that we recommend our patients do with their toothbrushes is to soak them in antibacterial mouthwash in between uses. Just be sure to rinse them thoroughly before using them to brush with. The mouthwash will clear away most bacteria effectively. Hydrogen Peroxide If you don’t want to use mouthwash to sterilize your toothbrush, you can use hydrogen peroxide instead. This works well on a daily basis because you can keep your toothbrush in a little container of peroxide in between uses. Just make sure that you dump out the old peroxide and change it with new each day to keep it truly sanitized. Use a UV Sanitizer There are special UV sanitizer devices that you can buy to keep your toothbrush sanitized. They rely on steam as well as heat to kill off any nasties. Dishwasher or Boiling Water Finally, you can put your toothbrush in the silverware compartment of your dishwasher and run it without soap in it. If you don’t want to do that, you can also drop your toothbrush down into boiling water to sanitize it. No matter what you do, make sure that you take some sort of action to sanitize your toothbrush this cold season. It will go a long way toward helping you stay healthy. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please call us at (503) 546-9079 today.