J Street Dental Group

Toothbrush: How Long Should You Keep It?

toothbrush

toothbrushMost people look for long-term relationships, both with a spouse and with a group of friends. But J Street Dental Group want you to know that there’s one relationship that should never last longer than three months — your relationship with your toothbrush. We’re not saying that you should stop brushing, we’d never suggest that. But we do recommend replacing your toothbrush four times a year. However, there are times when you should consider replacing it sooner than that.

Table of Contents

Bacteria Buildup

We all know that our toothbrushes are responsible for removing plaque, bacteria, and lingering food particles from our teeth. But think about it: if you never replace your toothbrush, just how much bacteria buildup would be on those bristles? Too much. This is one reason why your dentist in Sacramento and the American Dental Association encourages patients to swap out their toothbrushes (or toothbrush head if you’re using an electronic one) every three to maybe four months.

However, bacteria buildup isn’t the only reason why a new toothbrush is needed every so often. As the bristles begin to wear down over time, the toothbrush also becomes less effective at cleaning your teeth, putting you at risk of decay, cavities, and other oral health problems. In fact, there are times when you should replace your brush even earlier than 3-4 months.

What to Look For

How do you know it’s time to get a new toothbrush even if you’re technically not due for one yet? It’s easy, and there are some tell-tale signs that it’s time to trash your toothbrush. You should look for signs in the bristles such as:

  • Fraying
  • Discoloration
  • Flattening

If you notice any of these signs, it’s time to break up with your toothbrush and upgrade to a new one.

An Important Note

It’s worth noting that even if your toothbrush is in great condition and not showing signs of wear and tear, you should always replace your toothbrush after you’ve been sick to lower the risk of reintroducing the illness back into your system.

Proper Care is Key

To get the most out of your toothbrush and to help make it last the full three or possibly four months, you need to take care of it properly. Follow these tips to get the most out of your short, three-month relationship with your toothbrush.

  • Don’t Share. Our parents always taught us that it’s polite to share. But they forgot one exception to that rule — your toothbrush. You should never share your toothbrush with anyone, even a family member or child. Sharing your toothbrush is also a great way to swap bacteria.
  • Always Rinse It. Every time after you brush, it’s crucial that you thoroughly rinse away any extra toothpaste from between your bristles. This also helps wash germs and bacteria down the sink.
  • Keep It Upright. In between brushings, make sure to properly store your toothbrush with the bristles up. This allows anything lingering around to fall off the bristles as they dry. Speaking of drying, we also recommend keeping your toothbrush uncovered and away from other household toothbrushes.

Replacing your toothbrush every three months or after a cold is the best way to make sure that it’s in the best condition possible to properly care for your oral health. Additionally, making sure to take care of your toothbrush can extend its life for the full three months. As always, pairing a great oral hygiene routine at home with visits to J Street Dental Group twice a year is the best combination to keep your smile healthy.

10/10/2024

 

10/10/2025
Privacy Policy

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Privacy Policy

J Street Dental Group – Candidate Privacy Notice

J Street Dental Group is committed to respecting your online privacy and recognizes your need for appropriate protection and management of any personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) you share with us.

J Street Dental Group is a “data controller”. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. This privacy notice makes you aware of how and why your personal data will be used, namely for the purposes of the J Street Dental Group employment recruitment process, and how long it will usually be retained.

Data protection principles

We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your data will be:

  • Used lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent way.
  • Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  • Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
  • Accurate and kept up to date.
  • Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
  • Kept securely.

 

The kind of information we hold about you

In connection with your application for work with us, we will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about you:

  • The information you have provided to us in your curriculum vitae and cover letter.
  • The information you have provided on our application form, including name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, employment history, and qualifications.
  • Any information you provide to us during an interview.

 

How is your personal information collected?

We collect personal information about candidates from the following sources:

  • You, the candidate.
  • Recruitment agencies and vendors we have agreed on terms in place with
  • Professional networking profile
  • Employees and others who refer you to us


How we will use information about you?

We will use the personal information we collect about you to:

  • Assess your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role.
  • Carry out background and reference checks, where applicable.
  • Communicate with you about the recruitment process.
  • Keep records related to our hiring processes.
  • Comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
  • We also need to process your personal information to decide whether to enter into a contract of employment with you.

Having received your CV, cover letter, and/or your application form, we will then process that information to decide whether you meet the basic requirements to be screened by our in-house recruitment team for the role. If you do, we will decide whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview, be it by telephone, in person, or by other electronic means. If we decide to engage you for an interview, we will use the information you provide to us at the interview to decide whether to offer you the role. If we decide to offer you the role, we will then take up references before confirming your appointment.

If you fail to provide personal information

If you fail to provide information when requested, which is necessary for us to consider your application (such as evidence of qualifications or work history), we will not be able to process your application successfully and we will not be able to take your application further.

Automated decision-making

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.

Data sharing With third parties

  • We will only share your personal information with the following third parties for the purposes of processing your application; this may involve sharing your information with other companies within our own group if we consider they may have other relevant vacancies and only if you consent to such sharing
  • All our third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Data security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention (how long will you use my information for)

  • We will retain your personal information for a period of 2 years after we have communicated to you our decision about whether to appoint you to the role. We will retain your personal information so that we can make you aware of any suitable alternative roles that arise during this period.
  • We further retain your personal information for that period so that we can show, in the event of a legal claim, that we have not discriminated against candidates on prohibited grounds and that we have conducted the recruitment exercise in a fair and transparent way. After this period, we will securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
  • If you would prefer that we did not retain your personal information, you can notify us at any time and we will delete your personal information.


Rights of access, correction, erasure, and restriction

Under certain circumstances, by law, you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us to continue to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object to where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example, if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.


Right to withdraw consent

When you applied for this role, you provided consent to us processing your personal information for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. You have the right to withdraw your consent for processing for that purpose at any time.

To withdraw your consent, please contact the Recruitment Manager. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your application, and, subject to our policies, we will dispose of your personal data securely.

Data protection officer

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the DPO by email, at info@jstreetdentalgroup.com.