1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

Do you need to sanitize your toothbrush every day?

Posted by formergardener @formergardener, Sep 7, 2023

I am really vigilant about cleaning my equipment for nebulizing and airway clearance. What should we do about our toothbrushes? We brush our teeth multiple times a day. The MAC is probably on there. I can’t boil my toothbrush or use a new one each time I brush.

I read about soaking in vinegar. Is that pure or diluted vinegar? Should it always be left in a small glass with some vinegar after brushing and rinsing teeth? Then you have to rinse it really well afterwards (with your tap water that probably contains MAC). If you know your tap water does have MAC, what do you do?

I now have disposable cups and pot bottled water in them for rinsing my mouth as well as for cleaning my toothbrush. Am I doing too much?

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helen1000 | @helen1000 | Aug 5 12:47am
In reply to @formergardener "Thank you all for the helpful posts" + (show)
@formergardener

Thank you all for the helpful posts

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I bought 70% alcohol from amazon.

REPLY
formergardener | @formergardener | Aug 5 7:08am
In reply to @helen1000 "To disinfect your toothbrush with 70% alcohol, you can follow these steps123: Rinse the toothbrush with..." + (show)
@helen1000

To disinfect your toothbrush with 70% alcohol, you can follow these steps123:

Rinse the toothbrush with warm water to remove debris.
Submerge the bristles in rubbing alcohol for about 30 seconds.
Alternatively, wipe the handle down with a disinfectant wipe or use a diluted bleach solution.
Note that commercially available toothbrush cleaning products have not been shown to sterilize toothbrushes4.

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I just soak my toothbrush head in hydrogen peroxide for a few hours weekly. That is supposed to be effective, and it is very inexpensive.

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becleartoday | @becleartoday | Aug 6 5:30am

Oral microbiota is a hot research topic and within the next five years we will hopefully have a better understanding of the role these bacteria play in the lung microbiome. Although it is hard to believe, we have over 700 different types of bacteria in our mouths! Some are good, some not so good and some we aren’t sure of.

For those of us who have dealt with NTM infections like MAC, the good news is NTM are generally not found in the oral cavity. However, when we cough and secretions enter our mouth, they could end up on our toothbrush.

I rotate through a half dozen toothbrushes and on a daily basis I dab my brush with dish soap and scrub it. I have a Bril UV device I found on Amazon and pop my toothbrush into it after each use, then let it air dry. It’s great for traveling. When I’m home, I put my toothbrushes in my Bololo baby bottle sterilizer with my airway clearance devices.

As Sue suggested, I do not put my toothbrush in the family cup. Furthermore, I put it in a cabinet away from the toilet. Research shows pseudomonas that was cultured from the toilet was also found on nearby toothbrushes!!

I like this approach to toothbrush care because it’s easy to maintain. And, as others have said, we take precautions with our airway clearance devices and it makes sense to take similar precautions with our toothbrushes.

Warm regards,
Linda Esposito

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2 replies
melinda561 | @melinda561 | Aug 6 6:04am

I do boil mine every day with my equipment as I have 4 replacement heads. I replace all of them every 6 months.

REPLY
formergardener | @formergardener | Aug 6 7:10am
In reply to @becleartoday "Oral microbiota is a hot research topic and within the next five years we will hopefully..." + (show)
@becleartoday

Oral microbiota is a hot research topic and within the next five years we will hopefully have a better understanding of the role these bacteria play in the lung microbiome. Although it is hard to believe, we have over 700 different types of bacteria in our mouths! Some are good, some not so good and some we aren’t sure of.

For those of us who have dealt with NTM infections like MAC, the good news is NTM are generally not found in the oral cavity. However, when we cough and secretions enter our mouth, they could end up on our toothbrush.

I rotate through a half dozen toothbrushes and on a daily basis I dab my brush with dish soap and scrub it. I have a Bril UV device I found on Amazon and pop my toothbrush into it after each use, then let it air dry. It’s great for traveling. When I’m home, I put my toothbrushes in my Bololo baby bottle sterilizer with my airway clearance devices.

As Sue suggested, I do not put my toothbrush in the family cup. Furthermore, I put it in a cabinet away from the toilet. Research shows pseudomonas that was cultured from the toilet was also found on nearby toothbrushes!!

I like this approach to toothbrush care because it’s easy to maintain. And, as others have said, we take precautions with our airway clearance devices and it makes sense to take similar precautions with our toothbrushes.

Warm regards,
Linda Esposito

Jump to this post

Do toothbrushes withstand the heat from boiling or from bottle sterilizers?

REPLY
becleartoday | @becleartoday | Aug 6 7:16am

It depends on your toothbrush! I put mine in my bololo steam baby bottle sterilizer and have no problem. But I have a client who put his in a microwave steam bag and it melted. Fortunately, they are relatively inexpensive so we can experiment and see what works best for us individually.

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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Aug 7 8:24pm
In reply to @becleartoday "Oral microbiota is a hot research topic and within the next five years we will hopefully..." + (show)
@becleartoday

Oral microbiota is a hot research topic and within the next five years we will hopefully have a better understanding of the role these bacteria play in the lung microbiome. Although it is hard to believe, we have over 700 different types of bacteria in our mouths! Some are good, some not so good and some we aren’t sure of.

For those of us who have dealt with NTM infections like MAC, the good news is NTM are generally not found in the oral cavity. However, when we cough and secretions enter our mouth, they could end up on our toothbrush.

I rotate through a half dozen toothbrushes and on a daily basis I dab my brush with dish soap and scrub it. I have a Bril UV device I found on Amazon and pop my toothbrush into it after each use, then let it air dry. It’s great for traveling. When I’m home, I put my toothbrushes in my Bololo baby bottle sterilizer with my airway clearance devices.

As Sue suggested, I do not put my toothbrush in the family cup. Furthermore, I put it in a cabinet away from the toilet. Research shows pseudomonas that was cultured from the toilet was also found on nearby toothbrushes!!

I like this approach to toothbrush care because it’s easy to maintain. And, as others have said, we take precautions with our airway clearance devices and it makes sense to take similar precautions with our toothbrushes.

Warm regards,
Linda Esposito

Jump to this post

I just buy my replacement heads in "family packs" and replace on the first of every month - more often if I become ill.
And as Linda pointed out pseudomonas may be found in bathrooms -we flush (and have taught our littles to flush) with the lid closed. Bonus - males must automatically put the seat down to do this! I hate hotel rooms with no lid on the toilet seat - I don't keep anything in those bathrooms.

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irenea8 | @irenea8 | Aug 8 7:38am

In addition to a tooth brush, I use a stainless steel tongue scraper. It works much better than cleaning your tongue with a tooth brush. Just something to consider for mouth hygiene.

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formergardener | @formergardener | Aug 8 2:34pm

Thank you for the tip! Always learning something new.

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magwil01 | @magwil01 | Aug 12 9:50pm
In reply to @formergardener "I agree. I wish that they could all get together- the pulmonologists, infectious disease doctors, and..." + (show)
@formergardener

I agree. I wish that they could all get together- the pulmonologists, infectious disease doctors, and the immunologists. Just sit down and address all of these pertinent questions and have a standard set of guidelines that can be handed to patients upon diagnosis. I have gotten information piecemeal from on line, doing research, and mostly from this wonderful site. A simple guide with what to do and what not to do and why. Just getting accurate information and guidance at the beginning can be so difficult.

Jump to this post

There is a standard set of guidelines and it is pretty near perfect. It was not developed by doctors but by a patient and is in use through the world. It is on Facebook in 7 chapters - never made into a pdf. You need to be on FB and search for: Lung Matters: Covid, Bronchiectasis, MAC, NTM, Nocardia, Pseudomonas & More.

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