Toothbrush Twig Kills Oral Bacteria
A study published in the August, 2008 issue of the Journal of Periodontology, suggests that a toothbrush made from a twig, can kill several bacteria without even touching them. Swedish investigators who performed this study used miswak (known also as siwak and a chewing stick). People in certain areas of the Middle East (i.e, parts of Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Jordan), use this twig to perform their oral hygiene. Most miswaks come from the twigs or roots of the arak tree (Salvadora persica); known also as the toothbrush tree. However, miswaks can be made from other types of trees, such as olive and walnut trees. Previously, scientists attempted to extract compounds from the chewing sticks, but didn’t find these extracts to kill bacteria very well.
The Swedish investigators used small pieces of miswak, weighing a total of less than 1/100th of an ounce. Several small pieces were either suspended over a petri dish, or embedded into the petri dish agar. The petri dishes were already growing dissimilar oral bacterial species. Both approaches destroyed bacteria, with miswak showing the best results on two different periodontal bacterial species. They were also effective at destroying the dental caries bacteria; but were less effective. The suspended miswak showed better results than the miswak embedded into the agar. The study investigators have suggested that miswak could contain antibiotics or have antibiotic properties that diffuse into the air, killing the bacteria without touching them.
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