Brush Caps

If you have ever travelled on an airplane overnight, you may have seen this phenomenon. You may even own the object in question. It is a piece of plastic that you have to pull on to your toothbrush, and it is supposedly done to keep the brush part clean. The problem is, that it does the exact opposite.

Why They Do Not Work

After you brush your teeth, there is a small chance that some bacteria will still be left on it. This is why you rinse the toothbrush after you brush your teeth with it. If there is any traces of bacterial colonies left on the brush, then putting it underneath a small cap that traps moisture is basically like putting them in an incubator. And seeing as the bacteria is still alive, you are basically putting the bacteria in the incubator along with a petri dish as well. Really gross to think about.

The toothbrush will have some moisture on it, and moisture is always likely to get contaminated by bacterial life of some sort. If you leave the toothbrush out in the open it will dry out eventually, which will leave you with no bacteria at all on your toothbrush, as exposure to oxygen will kill the tiny microbial trouble makers. Before using the toothbrush again, just wet it with water, and then brush away. This way, the bacteria will be dead, and your teeth won’t get jacked up from a dry brush either.

Nota Bene

Many wise people will be asking themselves, why do they even sell them if they are dangerous? Because people buy them, that’s why. As long as people don’t know that these things are useless or even harmful, there will be some guy who will sell it to you. It is just that simple. This is the same scenario as when DVDs first came in and people were sold DVD rewinders, they existed too, you can probably still get one if you want. Except, this one can actually end up harming you, particularly if you already have some sort of dental infection or periodontal issue. So just don’t use it, wash your toothbrush off before use, including plenty of hot water (scalding even) and you should be fine.

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