Resumo (EN)
Objective – The objective of this study is to verify the presence of bacteria in the toothbrush and to evaluate the knowledge of the residents of the Sumaré city about toothbrush care. Methods – Were selected 100 volunteers randomly, aged 18 years and older toanswer a questionnaire, and of theses 20 brushes were randomly collected for microbiological and bristle wear analyzes in the toothbrush at the clinical analyzes laboratory of Universidade Paulista. Results– Most (56%) brush their teeth twice a day, 44% (44/100) changes their brushes within 2 to 3 months, but most respondents do not know disinfection methods for toothbrush. In relation the toothbrush bristle wear analysis, 50% presented the majority of divergent bristle, with tufts, covering other tufts. Regarding the microbiological analysis, 85% (17/20) of the toothbrushes showed a microbial growth, where the most (75%) comprised of Staphylococcusspp., followed by 30% enterobacteria, 5% bacilli gram positive, 15% Streptococcusspp.and 10% diplococci gram negative. Conclusion – In this perspective, it is observed that there is a need to make the population aware of the maintenance of toothbrushes. About contamination in the brushes, we observed that not necessarily it is associate to time of use and wear of toothbrush bristles.