Pros: It’s a nice design and fits my Nimbus toothbrush. It holds a charge for a long time, as I’ve had it nearly two months and only charged it once after the initial charge. Now, does it kill bacteria? They say yes but offer no proof. Luckily, I’m a microbiologist and this is easy to test. With gloves and after disinfecting the area, I wetted my toothbrush and sprayed it on a supportive media (bacteria food) in a Petri dish that will let bacteria grow. I then ran the full UV cycle, rewetted it, and sprayed a new plate. I grew these overnight in a lab incubator at human body temp so that bacteria that like to live in the mouth would grow if they’re there. The left plate is before UV. The right is after. Not much different. A little less, but certainly not what the manufacturers claim and not what I think most of us were hoping for. Note that this is the same kind of growth you would get from your spit or a swab of your skin, so nothing to worry about, but the number of bacteria is not being substantially reduced. The UV light does not seem strong enough to disinfect. It’s an expensive, nice-looking cover that will protect your toothbrush from particles floating around from other bathroom activities, but it is NOT disinfecting the toothbrush to any real degree. It may help dry your toothbrush a bit faster, and drying and covering your toothbrush, plus changing it every 1-2 months, is generally enough to keep you safe from the bad bacteria. Unless you like the look enough to spend this much on a toothbrush cover, I would pass. Note for my bacteria nerds: this is my tap water, which I have previously cultured and is not the source of the colonies. Plain LB plates handled with nitrile gloves and surrounding surfaces cleaned with isopropanol 70%. Plates opened upside down and toothbrush sprayed up to reduce ambient air contamination. I had been out of the apartment for 8 hours so air contaminants had largely settled. I poured these plates myself aseptically (Luria-Bertani) and transported them in a clean plastic bag to my apartment and back to the lab five minutes away. Incubated aerobically at 37oC overnight and photographed. Didn’t stain them but likely largely Pseudomonas and other G- commensals based on the appearance, imo. Fun experiment but disappointing purchase.
