BACTERIAL LOAD ON USED TOOTHBRUSHES, FROM SELECTED STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN.

ABSTRACT

Oral hygiene is undoubtedly an essential practice for healthy living. Numerous studies have shown that prolonged use of the tooth brush facilitates contamination by various micro-organisms. These micro-organisms are implicated to cause dental caries, gingivitis, stomatitis, infective endocarditis in an individual. The aim of this research was to determine the level of microbial contamination of used tooth brushes. A total of 10 used toothbrushes and 5 unused samples were aseptically collected from different students in University of Benin. Bacteriological analysis was done using standard microbiology methods. The Total heterotrophic bacterial count (THBC) was used as important indicator of the microbial quality of used tooth brushes sampled in this study. The mean total bacterial count from the used tooth brushes ranged from 1.00 × 10⁵– 6.00 × 10⁵ CFU/mL for used toothbrushes while no growth were recorded for unused tooth brushes. The Bacteria genera isolated in this study are Bacillus sp. (28.57 %), Staphylococcus sp. (28.57 %), Escherichia coli (14.29 %), Streptococcus sp. (14.29 %) and Micrococcus sp.(14.29 %). Isolates had resistance against at least one or more of tested antibiotics (multiple drug resistance) It was observed that all the isolates were susceptible to Gentamicin and Ofloxacin but showed resistance to Cefuroxine, Erythromycin, Cetrazidine and Augmentin. Prolong usage of toothbrushes should be avoided in order to curtail serious tooth infections.