TOOTHBRUSH TIPS

As important as it is to brush your teeth regularly, it is just as essential to know when to toss your tooth brush. Over use of a toothbrush can actually injure your gums and inadequately clean your teeth. Just like food has an expiry date your toothbrush does as well. I will provide information and tips on when to discard your toothbrush.

First and foremost if your toothbrush looks like any of the ones in this picture please get rid of it! When a toothbrush gets splayed it is no longer doing its job. Those splayed edges can hurt your gums and when they become like that, they can break off and get lodged under your gums which can lead to a localized infection. More importantly it is not effectively cleaning your teeth. Many manual toothbrushes have a built in indicator often coloured blue in the centre of the toothbrush. When this wears down about half way its time to toss the toothbrush and replace it with a new one. Most reputable electric toothbrush heads have a replacement indicator as well. My current Sonicare Electric toothbrush has a sensor that flashes when its time to change the toothbrush head. Lastly if you have had the flu with a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes, when you are on the mend regardless of the condition of your toothbrush discard it. Toothbrushes harbour both good and bad bacteria and when your sick your toothbrush will be filled with infectious bacteria so if you don’t throw it out, you may in fact get sick again.

This concludes the tips on when to throw your toothbrush out. A little hint, an old toothbrush can make a fantastic cleaning tool for those hard to reach areas such as bathtubs and sinks. Important keys in this blog, if your toothbrush is splayed, if the indicator is half gone on both manual and electric toothbrushes or if you have been ill, it is time to ditch your toothbrush!