title: An in vitro comparison of antimicrobial toothbrushes.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of toothbrushes that advertise self-disinfecting, antimicrobial properties due to the inclusion of silver nanoparticles or chlorhexidine in the bristles. Three different types of toothbrushes-silver nanoparticle, chlorhexidine-coated, and a control-were submerged in suspensions of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans. At designated times postinoculation, organisms were removed from the toothbrush heads, then serially diluted, plated, and incubated. The colony-forming units (CFUs) were counted and a mean percent reduction was determined for each organism group. With the S. mutans groups, the chlorhexidine-coated toothbrushes had significantly greater percent reduction in CFUs at all 3 time points compared to the control or silver nanoparticle toothbrushes. With the C. albicans groups, neither the chlorhexidine-coated nor the silver nanoparticle toothbrushes had a significant reduction in CFUs compared to the control. Neither of the antimicrobial toothbrushes delivered the advertised claim of a 99.9% reduction in CFUs with either microorganism. However, the inclusion of chlorhexidine in toothbrush bristles appeared to be the most promising of the methods tested for toothbrush self-disinfection.
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hamal
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hensley
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Maller
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Palazzolo
authors.forename: Kraig S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Vandewalle
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D012834:Silver; D002710:Chlorhexidine