The toothbrush rule almost half all Aussies follow
If you ask a dentist, they'll tell you you're meant to be changing your toothbrush every three months.
Some say it seems reasonable, some don't understand why we ever need to change a toothbrush (please see Google), and some simply can't be bothered with all the admin.
While a lot of the time the general public seems to take what dentists say as a recommendation rather than a rule, it seems plenty of people actually are swapping out their toothbrushes.
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How often should you replace your toothbrush Graphic: Polly Hanning
According to an exclusive Nine.com.au reader poll, a whopping 45 per cent of Aussies listen to dentists' recommendations and are swapping their toothbrush out every three months.
Eleven per cent of people like to stay on top of their oral hygiene it seems, swapping their toothbrush out every month, and 14 per cent sometimes fall behind schedule, swapping their toothbrush out every six months.
"It's good oral health to change your toothbrush regularly and more often if you have had a virus," said one poll respondent
However, it seems some people enjoy living their lives on the edge, teetering on the cliff of chaos and never knowing what might happen.
Thirty per cent of poll respondents say they swap their toothbrush out 'whenever it looks gross', which honestly, could take over a year. It really just depends on how vigorously you scrub.
But it turns out these people have criteria that a toothbrush must fulfil before being replaced.
It's not just any kind of 'gross look' they have an eye out for, but specific details that deem a toothbrush as having past its prime and worthy of being laid to rest.
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A woman reaching for a toothbrush iStock
"I do not change the toothbrush based on a period [of time]," said one respondent. "I only change when the bristles are not standing upright."
It seems most people look for damage in the bristles when judging their toothbrushes health.
If they are looking worn and tardy, it's time to upgrade.
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