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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paxmundi | @paxmundi | Jun 3 9:47am
In reply to @magwil01 "Yes, she is kind and has spent a great deal of her time on this. It..." + (show)
@magwil01

Yes, she is kind and has spent a great deal of her time on this. It is appreciated. But she is also giving medical advice. She is selective in what she posts. I was deleted because I mentioned steroids, but some others have been able to post that word. I kept posting that I was getting worse and the doctor wanted to do a bronchoscopy and she replied with how dangerous that was as were the steroids and antibiotics. At one point I told her I could no longer take care of myself and were there exceptions to taking steroids and antibiotics. She deleted the post. I almost lost my life. It has been 2 months and I am still trying to recover.

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Really sorry to hear this. Seems like a very stark response to someone who is suffering.

REPLY
magwil01 | @magwil01 | Jun 3 11:36am

Why can't you boil your toothbrush each time you brush. I have 15 toothbrushes and I brush about 3 times a day. Each time I use one, I put it in the bin for boiling. When there are 10, I boil with my other neb equipment. I first spray with hydrogen peroxide then soak for 10 minutes in hot soapy water, rinse, then boil for 10 minutes in clear water. Beside this, I use a water pik with sterile water that I have also boiled. Get Oral B toothbrushes that are boilable. You can get them in large lots - don't by one at a time. Hope this helps.

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1 reply
pacathy | @pacathy | Jun 3 2:12pm
In reply to @magwil01 "Yes, she is kind and has spent a great deal of her time on this. It..." + (show)
@magwil01

Yes, she is kind and has spent a great deal of her time on this. It is appreciated. But she is also giving medical advice. She is selective in what she posts. I was deleted because I mentioned steroids, but some others have been able to post that word. I kept posting that I was getting worse and the doctor wanted to do a bronchoscopy and she replied with how dangerous that was as were the steroids and antibiotics. At one point I told her I could no longer take care of myself and were there exceptions to taking steroids and antibiotics. She deleted the post. I almost lost my life. It has been 2 months and I am still trying to recover.

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I didn't get kicked out because I mentioned steroids twice, but got pm's. I first mentioned them because it helped my chronic little cough when I'd been on albuterol for 9 months with no change. The steroid inhaler had it gone by two days. . The second time is when I said steroid nasal spray helped with my post nasal drip. She didn't comment on the posts, but deleted them quickly and pm'd that those weren't protocol. Unless readers were quick, they never knew something else worked for people. Both my comments had been in response to people's questions about the issue.
I agree airway clearance info is good, but a single approach to a problem is not always enough.

I'm so sorry you went thru all that.

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wsbme74 | @wsbme74 | Jun 4 5:43am

Hi. When I was diagnosed 2 years ago, several people sent me to the website for the Australian Lung Foundation. Here is an action plan perhaps to go over with your doctor. They also have, as far as I recall, a checklist somewhere for appointments.

My own biggest question was (and sometimes is still!) how to spot a flare-up/exacerbation, and then to do about it (and when).
It also might be good to ask how often he wants a sputum sample collected.
Good luck!
https://lungfoundation.com.au/resources/bronchiectasis-action-plan/

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rosa80 | @rosa80 | Jun 5 2:04am

Hi I UV light toothbrush sanitizer from Amazon

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pacathy | @pacathy | Jun 5 6:41am
In reply to @magwil01 "Why can't you boil your toothbrush each time you brush. I have 15 toothbrushes and I..." + (show)
@magwil01

Why can't you boil your toothbrush each time you brush. I have 15 toothbrushes and I brush about 3 times a day. Each time I use one, I put it in the bin for boiling. When there are 10, I boil with my other neb equipment. I first spray with hydrogen peroxide then soak for 10 minutes in hot soapy water, rinse, then boil for 10 minutes in clear water. Beside this, I use a water pik with sterile water that I have also boiled. Get Oral B toothbrushes that are boilable. You can get them in large lots - don't by one at a time. Hope this helps.

Jump to this post

Just a caution...I put my handheld Water Pik's little reservoir in my Bololo and it came out a totally different shape. : ). I use vinegar soaks for it now.

REPLY
lilianna | @lilianna | Jun 5 10:15am

Hello, i bought a few disposable nebulizer cups in a kit. The instructions say you can use them up to two weeks. With bronchiectasis and MAC how many times would you use them? I would say once only or AM, wash, dry and PM and dispose of the cup?

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