5 Toothbrush care tips during COVID-19

The COVID-19 Pandemic has made everyone to lead a new normal life with great personal hygiene activities. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends sanitary actions like washing our hands often, social distancing, wear face masks when we step out, avoid touching your face, etc.

In addition to this, everyone should be oral hygienic also to avoid infections in this virus outbreak. The pathogens in saliva stick to the toothbrush while brushing. Such a contaminated appliance will spread the infection to your family member when you place it along with other toothbrushes in a holder.

To put it simply, it is crucial to give attention to toothbrush cleanliness now to refrain your family members from the danger of becoming Corona Victims.

Here are the tips to assure toothbrush hygiene in our current abnormal situation.

1) Keep your toothbrush separately

Keeping your toothbrush in a separate container or away from other’s toothbrush is crucial if you notice the symptoms of corona infection. Such isolation will prevent your toothbrush will turn into a COVID-19 hotspot.

In simply, the toothbrushes used by coronavirus sufferers also need social distancing as well as the victims.

2) Wash your hands before brushing

Cleaning your hands with soap or sanitizer for minimum 20 seconds kills the protective coating of lipids to destroy the coronavirus. This is the reason why doctors recommend washing hands regularly.

Washing your hands before brushing and flossing prevent you from contaminating the brush handles with this life-threatening pathogen.

3) Sterilize Your Toothbrush

Sanitizing the toothbrush especially its handle is highly recommended because the corona Virus can exist in plastic for 2 to 3 days. It is possible to get infected whenever you touch the contaminated surfaces.

Sterilizing your toothbrush in a disinfectant solution will wipe out the virus if exists. The purifying solutions recommended by CDC include  EPA-registered household disinfectants, fluids with at least 70% alcohol, and diluted household bleach solution.

On the other hand, hot water also serves as a disinfectant. So you can drown your toothbrush in a cup of hot water for a minute for decontamination.

4) Don’t share your toothbrush

You cannot say your toothbrush bristles are clean because some microbes still survive there even after you rinse thoroughly. Hence it is obvious that sharing the oral appliance will transmit the existent bacteria, germs, virus along with the blood-borne diseases the user have.

Dentists recommend avoiding this practice will avert various dental & health-related issues.

5) Replace your toothbrush periodically

The average lifespan of a toothbrush is 3 – 4 months. One should replace his/her toothbrush when the bristles become frayed. Meanwhile, such toothbrush replacement is mandatory whenever you recovered from illnesses to avoid re-contamination.

It is crucial for people who have successfully recovered from deadly diseases and virus infections like COVID 19.

Despite the recent pandemic, switching to a new toothbrush periodically will assure oral health’s well-being.

Bottom line

Your toothbrush will become a source of infection unless you clean it properly. Everyone should observe their toothbrush safety which is imperative to prevent possible corona infections.