The Passport to a Healthy Holiday

There are more than 10 million bacteria on your toothbrush according to a recent study at the University of Manchester. That means there are considerably more bacteria on your toothbrush than your average toilet seat – which has 50 bacteria per square inch, or average public lavatory floor – which has 2 million bacteria per square inch.  Now imagine if the toilet you are using is at camp site shared with hundreds of others?

Most people don’t realise that every time you flush the loo a spray of tainted water is released with droplets able to land as far away as 10 feet.  The area around the sink where you rest your toothbrush is also likely to be grossly fouled.

Researchers from the University of Alabama found that faecal matter is found on all toothbrush bristles stored in the bathroom. And toothbrushes aren’t particular about whose faecal matter it is, so it’s likely it won’t just be your own that is going into your mouth every time you clean your teeth!

It is likely your toothbrush will have been exposed to numerous invisible contaminants in the months that you use it, including a high proportion of pathogenic nasties such as E.coli and staphylococcal. Airborne bacteria are not the only pollutants which sully your toothbrush. If it touches another, germs and bacteria can pass from surface to surface, spreading the likes of oral herpes (cold sores), candida (oral thrush) and the HPV virus.

Shield your toothbrush against contamination while travelling

Fortunately, you can safeguard your toothbrush and your health. The Steripod toothbrush protector clips over the head of a toothbrush, creating a protective ‘pod’ which physically surrounds the head and shields it from both airborne and cross contamination.  It is designed to keep a toothbrush clean and smelling fresh, for up to three months thanks to a thymol compound encapsulated in the pod. Thymol is used in many mouthwashes and oral anti-septics and its vapours protectively encircle the toothbrush bristles. The Steripod has been designed so that air can circulate freely which means your toothbrush can dry naturally – contaminants require a moist atmosphere to multiply most effectively, so the drier your brush, the lower the risk of bad bugs on your bristles.

Steripod doesn’t need power, batteries or cables, so it’s easy to protect your brush wherever it is; at home, on holiday, or out and about. Nor does the active ingredient actually touch the bristles so you are not a risk of ingesting unwelcome chemicals.

Packing advice

A Steripod should be included on the packing list for people travelling for work or pleasure; festival goers, kids going off to camp and at £2.50 it is hardly and expensive addition.

Hotels are not immune either, and can be a hot bed of germs.  This led Liz Smith-Mills of the British Institute of Cleaning to show a Steripod on TV when talking about hotel cleanliness recently and state “I always like to keep my toothbrush covered as one never knows what is coming out of the toilet when you’re flushing and you never really know what has been put on the bathroom surfaces”.

Not travelling? An increasing number of us, aware of the health and aesthetic benefits of regular brushing like to pop a toothbrush in our gym, hand or wash bags.   Steripod is also ideal for anyone undergoing orthodontic treatment when using a brush after meals is imperative.

A pack of two Steripod cost 4.99 from larger Boots stores, Boots.com, Amazon.co.uk, Superdrug, ASDA, Boyes Stores and selected independent pharmacies. For more information visit www.steripod.co.uk