How to clean toothbrush heads (and what not to do)

Oohunt Deal Desk · Buying guides · October 23, 2026 · 6 min read

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Rinse it thoroughly, stand it upright, let it air dry, and do not keep it in a closed container. That is the American Dental Association’s entire toothbrush care routine, and the useful part of this page is mostly what it tells you not to bother with.

The routine, such as it is

• Rinse after every brush.The ADA’s wording is to rinse thoroughly after each use to remove remaining paste and debris. Toothpaste left in the bristles is what sets hard around the base.
• Shake it out and stand it upright. Store it upright and let it air dry.
• Keep brushes apart. If several share a holder, stop them touching.
• Never share a brush. The ADA says this plainly, because sharing moves bodily fluids and microorganisms between people.

On an electric brush, pull the head off

The part people miss is underneath. Toothpaste runs down into the join and dries on the metal shaft the head sits on, where rinsing the bristles never reaches it. Take the head off every week or so, rinse both pieces, and wipe the handle with a damp cloth. Keep the charging base dry.

What not to do

Not the dishwasher, and not the microwave. The ADA says neither is recommended, because the high heat may damage the brush. People reach for both believing heat sterilizes, and the result is a warped head that cleans worse than the one they were worried about.

Not a cover, except for travel. This is the one that surprises people: a moist toothbrush in a closed container grows more microbes than one left in the open air. The cap that came with the brush is for a suitcase, not a bathroom shelf.

Not boiling water. Same reasoning as the dishwasher. Bristles are plastic filaments set in a plastic head, and heat is what ruins them.

What about disinfecting it?

Here the honest answer is that nobody knows much. The ADA states there is little data in the literature on toothbrush sanitizing, and cites a single study in which soaking in 3 percent hydrogen peroxide or Listerine mouthwash greatly reduced bacterial load. One study is a reason to be curious, not a routine, and the ADA does not turn it into advice.

If you want a sanitizing device anyway, the ADA’s only guidance is to choose one cleared by the FDA. There is a cheaper intervention with better evidence behind it, which is replacing the head on time.

Cleaning is not replacing

A rinsed head is a clean head, not a new one. Bristles lose their shape with use, and once they splay they no longer point where you aim them. The ADA says every three to four months, Oral-B and Philips both say three for their own heads, and the indicator bristles on many heads tell you without a calendar. The signs, and which heads fit which handle, are in how often to replace your toothbrush and which replacement heads fit your brush.

After you have been ill

Washing it harder is not the answer, and neither is panic. ADA News says a healthy person is unlikely to reinfect themselves from their own brush, and names the cases where a fresh one is worth it: after a cold sore, for anyone severely immunocompromised, and for every brush that shared a holder with a sick person’s. See the ADA’s own toothbrush page for the storage guidance in full.

Heads worth keeping in the cupboard

Prices change often, so check the current one on Amazon.

Common questions

If you are choosing between brush types rather than caring for one, sonic versus oscillating toothbrushes covers what the two mechanisms actually do. More oral care sits in health & household.

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