Now this never really bothered me in the past but on hindsight I stick this thing in my mouth just like food so it would be good to know what its composed of. What really got me though is seeing toothbrushes that say whitening or antimicrobial which begs the question. Why is this whitening or antimicrobial? What the heck is in it that is doing this action??? Now that I think of it this might be more than mildly infuriating.

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[–] 5 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Well, there are multiple parts to a toothbrush, the bristles, the handle, and anything else that may be attached to it.

The bristles, the bit that wears down, generally are nylon unless noted.

https://jingsourcing.com/p/b46-toothbrush-bristles-material/

The handle, again generally, is recycled plastic.

Added bits may be rubber.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    I mean the antimicrobial must be something else.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Antimicrobial can be a lot of things, a lot of it is trademarked.

    This one:

    https://www.pro-sys.com/product/antibacterial-adult-toothbrush/

    Says it uses "StaClean™" So what does that mean?

    Well...

    https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/health-and-hygiene-announce-the-launch-of-a-complete-antibacterial-toothbrush-incorporating-d2p-700051131.html

    "Something, something, duPont"? My best guess is that it's a plastic that is non-porous so microbes can't live in it.

    This one says it's infused with "Nano Silver".

    https://linhart.nyc/pages/nano-silver-toothbrush

    Silver does have anti-microbial properties. "Nano Silver"? Who knows.

    Really you'd have to read the fine print on each brush and do the research to be vaguely certain. :)

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Yes, that part is called “marketing”. It’s plastic, that’s what they’re calling “antimicrobial”.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I had thought that maybe it was a non thing but alls the marketing did was make me worried that they are coating it with something like triclosan or such.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    It’s all horse shit, just like “whitening” toothpaste.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 1 year ago

    I actually stay away from whitening toothpaste because it usually means peroxide. Thats like what I want to know with the brushes. Is it something I don't like in it. It being nothing at all pure bs would be the best outcome.

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