Survival of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus on toothbrushes stored under protective covers and sanitizers

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the survival of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on toothbrushes stored under commercially available antimicrobial and non-antimicrobial covers. Methods: Standardized inocula of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ATCC 700698 were prepared and adjusted to a 0.5 McFarland standard (approximately 1.5x108 cfu/mL). A total of 45 toothbrush heads were contaminated with MRSA by submerging in 5mL of bacterial culture and vortexing for three minutes. Toothbrush heads were then stored for 24 hours under a thymol vapor-emitting toothbrush cover (Steripod), standard plastic cover with ventilation holes (Coghlan’s), moisture-absorbent cover (IntelliDent Toothbrush Shield), or ultraviolet light sanitizer (Docooler). Toothbrush heads were vortexed for 15s in 5mL of sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution, and serial dilutions were performed prior to spiral plating on blood agar. The positive control consisted of immediately vortexing to remove bacteria following contamination with the inoculum. Colony-forming units (cfu) were enumerated after overnight aerobic incubation at 37oC. All assays were performed in triplicate. Results: Significant reductions (p Conclusion: Survival of MRSA was significantly lowered on toothbrushes stored under the thymol vapor-emitting cover, moisture-absorbent cover, and UV sanitizer. None of the toothbrush covers was able to completely eradicate MRSA following a storage period of 24 hours.

Source Publication

The 95th General Session and Exhibition of the IADR, 46th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the AADR and 41st Annual Meeting of the CADR (IADR/AADR/CADR 2017), San Francisco, CA., 22-25 March 2017. In Journal of Dental Research

Volume Number

96

ISSN

00220345

First Page

1450

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