I am member of that weird little generation that people either identify with or are refuse to acknowledge – the Xennials. We are what is known as a micro generation and we were born between the years of 1977 and 1983. I barely squeak in there, but I definitely meet the criteria. Mainly, we were born into and remember a time pre- digital technology, but grew up along side the integration of the internet and cellphones so we are a bit more tech savvy than Generation X.
I am saying all this because, while I really despise what we have become with the internet breeding all kinds of crap, we also lacked a lot of information back in the 80’s and early 90’s. If I was sick, my Mom drug out the giant encyclopedia of illnesses and remedies and we did our best to match of symptoms. Sometimes we got lucky and the rashes would have pictures to compare to! Then we went to the pediatricians if a prescription or lab work was needed.
Needless to say, some of our knowledge about health was a bit stunted. I cringe thinking about how long I used the same toothbrush for and how it never seemed to have occurred to us that we should change toothbrushes after being sick. It makes me nauseous. I don’t even want to think about what my brothers and their toothbrushing habits or what they likely did to my toothbrush when I wasn’t looking.
So, lets cover the obvious.
Once you are well (ie. 24 hours without vomiting or fever or you are beyond the 7 days of a virus), please throw out your toothbrush or toothbrush head and get a new one.
Secondly, do the same with your toothpaste.
I know, I didn’t mention that before. I didn’t even question the toothpaste until about 10 years ago. I did wipe off the top with an alcohol wipe if I remembered, but I had a hard time parting with my (what seemed to be expensive at the time) Tom’s of Main Toothpaste.
Finally, a doctor at a local clinic reminded me that using the toothpaste after I was well was re-exposing myself and if I shared with anyone else, I was exposing them.
Guys, I have been a germaphobe my entire life, but these things escaped me for a long time.
Once I wizened up, I always replaced toothbrushes and toothpastes for everyone in my family who was sick.(individually, not everyone’s all at once. Unless they touched or we were all sick.)
However, being the one who is in charge of such things as the health of my family AND the shopping, I realized quickly that it was getting expensive – especially when a virus was running through 6-8 of us over the course of weeks. I started relying on the local dollar store for multi packs of toothbrushes and brand name toothpaste. They also accepted coupons, so that was a huge savings!
Then, once the kids got a bit older, we all switched over to electric toothbrushes, which saved us money at the dentist, but the brush heads aren’t cheap. It took me a bit to figure out I could get off-brand replacement heads on Amazon much cheaper, but nowhere near as cheap as 4/$1.
My next, and quite frankly, my proudest evolution only occurred this year. Bulk travel sized toothpastes. This has been a game changer! I buy bulk packages of toothpaste on Amazon, everyone gets their own toothpaste with their initials on it and I don’t feel like I’m wasting so much money or being wasteful with supplies!
Like I said before, I’m a germaphobe. I cannot bring myself to just disinfect a toothbrush if, for example, it falls in the toilet. If it falls in the sink or in the floor (which I clean several times each week) then I will disinfect.
4 ways to disinfect your toothbrush!
- Soak toothbrush head in a disinfectant mouthwash for 30 seconds or more.
- Mix 2 tsp of baking soda with 1 cup of water. Soak for 30 seconds or more.
- Bring water to a boil over the stovetop and boil toothbrush head or 3 minutes.
- Run toothbrushes through the dishwasher
For regular toothbrush cleaning, soak your toothbrush in white vinegar weekly or invest in a UV cleaner. There are all kinds of UV sanitizers that also store your toothbrushes so there’s no extras steps. The cost of the sanitizer may be reasonable if you compare with replacing toothbrushes or toothbrush heads frequently.
Do we still get sick sometimes? Yes, definitely. But I feel so much better knowing that I am doing the best I can for our all around health.