Have you ever used a microscope to examine your toothbrush?

I have, and the sight of all the little goobers clinging to the bristles is really unsettling.

Thug bugs love to linger out on toothbrushes, waiting for another opportunity to take over your mouth.

You only need to be aware of the conditions these nasty bugs require to survive in order to prevent your toothbrushes from turning into a petri dish.

You may relax knowing that your toothbrushes aren’t being used as thug bug nurseries if one or more of these circumstances are eliminated.

Thankfully, keeping your toothbrush free of nasty germs is really easy and doesn’t require you to buy expensive toothbrush sanitisers.

Learning about thug bugs

Gram-negative bacteria are the microorganisms linked to gum disease.

They simply flourish in low-oxygen situations because they are anaerobic.

If one were to characterise it as the ideal habitat for thug bugs, it would be one that is warm, dark, damp, and low in oxygen. This explains why oral gum pockets are ideal for thug bug growth.

With this knowledge, it’s simple to prevent your toothbrush from serving as a haven for thug bugs. All you have to do is take away one or more of their prerequisites.

Here are three easy ways to prevent bacteria from growing on your toothbrush.

1. In between brushings, let your toothbrush completely dry.

You must have many brushes and switch them out during the week so that your toothbrush may completely dry out before you use it again.

This enables every brush to completely dry before being used once more. Allowing the brush to completely dry out helps keep thug bugs off of it since they need a damp environment to survive.

2. Let the sun shine on your brush.

Sunlight is a potent disinfectant and cleanser.

Your brush will be able to dry completely and benefit from the cleaning properties of natural sunshine if you leave it on a sunny ledge for the whole day.

The fact that this tactic is free is its finest feature. Therefore, you don’t need to buy one of those expensive “brush sanitisers” and question whether it’s actually cleaning your brush.

3. Let the bristles soak for a whole night in hydrogen peroxide.

Here’s a third way to keep your toothbrush free of thug bugs if you only have one and don’t have a sunny windowsill.

Simply fill a small glass with 3% peroxide, and then immerse the brush head, bristles down, in the peroxide for the whole night.

The atmosphere of peroxide is extremely oxygen-rich. Therefore, it effectively deprives certain hooligan bugs that prefer low oxygen environments of a critical condition that they require for survival.

You may start brushing as soon as you’re ready by just taking your brush out of the peroxide and giving it a short rinse with water.

However, never attempt to clean it in the microwave or dishwasher.

Additionally, you should never attempt to clean your toothbrush by placing it in the microwave or dishwasher.

In addition to harming the brush, the high temperatures have the potential to harm your microwave and/or dishwasher.

This article explains how to prevent thug bugs from growing on your toothbrush.