ASSESSMENT OF MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF TOOTHBRUSHES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SAME IN MEDICAL STUDENTS
Journal Title: Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 52
Abstract
BACKGROUND Oral health is an integral part of good general health and toothbrushes are the most common and vital component of daily maintenance of oral hygiene used for prevention of oral diseases. Unfortunately, public awareness is lacking on the unsanitary conditions in which the brushes are placed like bathrooms, attached toilets in bathrooms which makes it prone for contamination with variety of microbes. Aims and Objectives- To evaluate the contamination of the tooth brushes used and stored in different environmental conditions by medical students for various microbes and prevention of the same by using 0.2 % Chlorhexidine gluconate. MATERIALS & METHODS This cross sectional prospective analytical study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology attached to Medical College during a time period of 2 months from 1st July 2018 to 31st August 2018 after due approval from Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) on 45 Second MBBS medical students consenting for the proposed study. They were grouped into 3 groups based on the storage condition of the tooth brush viz. 1- Dry place outside bathroom, 2- Inside bathroom without attached toilet & 3- Inside bathroom with attached toilet. After initial assessment of the commensal flora they are possessing by a new brush, they were given two sets of tooth brushes, one of red colour and other of blue colour. The red brush was the morning brush and was stored after rinsing with tap water as it is. The blue brush was the sleep time brush and was rinsed and dipped in 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate solution provided to them for 15 minutes, dried and stored. The microbial contamination in red brush stored in various environmental condition as well as bacterial load was noted. The blue brush was assessed for efficacy of 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate used in different environmental conditions in which the brushes were stored by different group members. Data was maintained in Microsoft Office Excel and analysed by tests of proportion and significance. RESULTS Of the 45 volunteered medical students in the present study between the age group of 19 to 25 years, gender distribution was 33% males against 67 % females with a Male to Female ratio of 1:2. Of the 45 participants assessed 11/45 (24.44%) grew Streptococci, 8/45 (17.77%) Staphylococcus, 3/45(6.66%) Gram positive bacilli, 7/45 (15.55%) Pseudomonas and 01/45 (2.22%) of E. coli. The overall efficacy of 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate was assessed in terms of reduction of the pathogenic strains and found to be most effective in Group 2 with p-value of <0.001 followed by Group 3 with p-value of <0.05 indicating significant reduction in contamination by pathogenic bacteria whereas no significant efficacy was found in Group 1. CONCLUSION The results of the present study established that tooth brushes are prone to bacterial contamination in dry as well as wet environments and can be a cause of potentially dangerous infections and spread of it, thus requiring adequate care to prevent the same. The appropriate methods of preservation of tooth brushes following oral hygiene practice needs attention & use of 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate can definitely reduce the chances of bacterial contamination of toothbrushes significantly especially in wet conditions of bathroom storage.
Authors and Affiliations
Rashmi Chaturvedi, Gautam S. K, Surender Kaur, Feeshan Ahmed, Navinchandra M. Kaore
Keywords
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- EP ID EP550505
- DOI 10.14260/jemds/2018/1231
- Views 91
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