Comparision of Contamination of Tooth Brush among Dental Students and Patients

The insertion of fixed appliances alters the oral microbiological profile, thus increasing the risk for caries and gingivitis considerably. Furthermore, caries and gingivitis prevention demands greater efforts in tooth brushing, since brushing becomes more complicated as substantial parts of the tooth surface are covered with attachments. Tooth brushing is most common method of maintaining oral hygiene. Contaminated tooth brushes can be a source of infection. The main aim of the study is to compare the contamination of tooth brush among dental students and patients undergoing orthodontic treatment.

Welcare orthodontic tooth brushes were used for the study. Twenty random subjects were selected for the study which included two groups of 10 subjects containing 10 dental students and 10 patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. Same tooth brush and tooth paste was given all the samples. The subjects were given instructions for brushing and asked to return the samples after one week. The samples are tested for bacterial colony forming units in nutrient agar culture plate.

It has been found from the result that there is no statistical difference between the number of colony forming units in the nutrient agar culture plate between the tooth brush obtained from the dental students and the patients undergoing orthodontic treatment.

though there were no statistical difference between the two groups, there were colony forming bacteria in both the cases. Thus it is very essential to rinse the brush properly and store the same in a dry container to prevent contamination from external environment.