This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on Web of Science (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 107 words of the full text and any section headings.

Brook and Gober¹ showed that group A -hemolytic streptococci can survive on toothbrushes and suggested that the failure of treating streptococcal pharyngitis may be due to the persistence of the organism on toothbrushes and orthodontic appliances. This is useful information and not surprising since, as they point out, toothbrushes have been shown to become contaminated with other microorganisms. Considering the price of a toothbrush compared with that of another office visit, it makes sense to follow the suggestion of Glass and Lare²: "We recommend that for the general population, toothbrushes be changed at least once a month and after any illness."

Howard Fischer, MD
Detroit, Mich

1. Brook I, Gober AE. Persistence of group A -hemolytic streptococci in toothbrushes and removable orthodontic appliances following treatment of pharyngotonsillitis. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1998;124:993-995. FREE FULL TEXT 2. Glass RT, Lare MM. Toothbrush contamination: a potential health risk? Quintessence Int. 1986;17:39-42. PUBMED

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1999;125:479.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?