Manual Toothbrushes
By Joseph Preziosi Jr., DMD
The way in which manual toothbrushes are manufactured have a significant effect on the amount of bacteria they retain after being used and exposed to micro flora of the patient’s mouth.
The retention and viability of cariogenic microorganisms, those that cause dental caries more commonly referred to as dental decay, and well as microorganism that cause gingivitis, periodontitis and stomatitis represent a real possibility for recontamination of the mouth. Toothbrushes that are used on a regular basis become contaminated with the microorganisms that live in the oral cavity and the longer the toothbrush is used the greater the number of microorganisms that it retains will be. The amount of retention of microorganisms is dependent on both the number of filaments per tuft and the number of tuffs the toothbrush has.
Up until very recently all toothbrushes were manufactured with either staple set tufting or in-mold tufting, however there is a new technique called individual in-mold placement of filaments. The latter of the three eliminates filaments being place in groups of tufts and allows individual filaments to be placed in the head of the toothbrush. While with staple set tufting toothbrushes a group of filaments are folded in half around the staple and are anchored in the head of the toothbrush that has a predrilled hole for each metal staple anchor. This causes gaps between the individual filaments of each tuft and between the tufts and the toothbrush head all of which are excellent areas to trap and retain bacteria. With in-mold tufting toothbrushes the gaps between the toothbrush head and the filaments are eliminated since no predrilled holes are required, but there still are gaps between the filaments of each tuft that can trap and retain bacteria. Individual in-mold placement of individual filaments toothbrushes eliminate the gaps causes by predrilled holes and the gaps between the filaments that are placed as tufts leaving just the gas between the individual filaments where bacteria can be trapped and retained.
Recent scientific studies evaluating retention and therefore the recontamination potential of cariogenic microorganisms demonstrated that individual in-mold placement of filament toothbrushes trapped and retained fewer bacteria than in-mold tufting toothbrushes which trapped and retained fewer bacteria than staple set tufting toothbrushes. This study leads to the conclusion that recontamination will be lower for individual in-mold placement of filament toothbrushes than for in-mold tufting toothbrushes which in turn will be lower than staple set tufting toothbrushes. This also means that the individual in-mold placement of filament toothbrushes will be more hygienic than in-mold tufting toothbrushes, which are more hygienic than staple set tufting toothbrushes.
This study shows that how a toothbrush is manufactured thus determining how the filaments are incorporated into the toothbrush head can be just as important as whether the filaments are soft, medium or hard. To minimize or avoid excessive wear and trauma to your mouth use a soft bristled toothbrush that you change frequently. To minimize or avoid bacterial recontamination of your mouth use a toothbrush that is manufactured using the individual in-mold placements of filaments, again changing it frequently. Look for this new individual in-mold placement of filament technology for toothbrush manufacturing in the near future. This type of toothbrush should be on store shelves soon but only the most informed of consumers will be aware of its existence and its benefits.
About the Author:
Joseph Preziosi Jr., DMD
New Jersey Cosmetic Dentist
phone: (908) 654-7100
fax: (908) 654-8764
email: Drpreziosi@aol.com
url: http://www.preziosidentistry.com/
