I am also unfamiliar with cases of HBV transmission by saliva, or traces of blood in the mouth after dental procedures, although it is true that transmission can occur either to or from a dental professional during dental work if the professional or patient are HBV+. My Dad was a dentist and he’d have lost his license back in the 1950-90’s when he practiced if he’d seroconverted.
Note that there are rare documented cases of HCV being transmitted by trace levels of blood retained on shared toothbrushes, and I’m pretty sure similar data exist for HIV. This tells me it is likely possible with HBV too as the physical properties of the 3 viruses are fairly similar. However, it is important to remember what Andrew points out: Transmission this would require an open sore in the mouth as kissing etc. does not transfer the virus, and transmission can be blocked by vaccination.
Overall, I’d take the cautious route–be sure you are vaccinated, disclose to your dental caregivers that you are HBV+, use a mouthwash as Andrew suggests until the sores heal, and don’t share toothbrushes. This probably a great deal of excessive caution, but I operate under the “better safe than sorry” philosophy.
Hello! I hope everyone is doing well! Once more I would appreciate your thoughts on cleaning and sterilization of objects.
As I mentioned in the past I wear a retainer due to the fact that I wore braces in the past. Unfortunately, yesterday as I was walking down the road my backpack opened and the retainer fell on the ground. Now I am trying to find a way to sterilize it before wearing it again since due to its use I am bit reluctant to just wash it with soap.
I was thinking of emersing it in undiluted bleach for 30 minutes and then rinsing it with water. Wouldn’t that effectively kill everything or would it need more time emersed? What’s the appropriate contact time to achieve complete sterilization with bleach?
I would have thought undiluted bleach could be detrimental to the structural integrity of the retainer, which could lead to accumulation of stuff in it later.
I also would have thought there’s retainer cleaning tablets (like denture cleaning tablets) that are made for this particular purpose and would be more effective than trying new ways yourself. That plus some brushing I would have thought would clean it more readily.
Also, it probably depends on what you’re most concerned about. Your mouth probably contains much more bacteria than dry ground. Anything built to clean it in normal use will probably get rid of anything you catch from the ground.
These are my impressions as a non-expert/non-orthodontist/non-dentist. Happy to be corrected about anything here.
Hello @ThomasTu,
Thank you for your prompt response!
I am hesistant to use undiluted bleach for this reason.
The tablets I found need to be diluted in hot water which is a big no-no for the kind of retainer I am using.
That’s why I was recommened the appliance that I mentioned above. I would really appreciate your thoughts on the effectiveness of UV light.
I think you’ll have to chat with the dentist/orthodontist about what would be best for this. I don’t know about UV, I know that it can weaken polymers (depending on the intensity and wavelength) and it can be fairly variable in terms of sterilisation (again depending on the intensity, and wavelength of the light as well as the shape of whatever you’re trying to clean).
I would think whatever you’ve already been doing to keep it clean will probably be OK.
I talked with my orthodontist and recommended emersing it in rubbing alcohol or mouthwash. She did not specify for how long. I think I have asked you in the past but I cannot find the answer now. How long is the contact time for an antiseptic of 70% isopropyl alcohol to sterilize something (10 min, 20 min. 30 min.) ?
Hello @NeptuneJ
You are right. I am a bit afraid about the effect bleach could have to the material. But I guess diluted it won’t do any harm. The directions suggest 100 ml of bleach in 1 Litre of water, right?
For simple drops on the ground, I would not be too worried. The 5 second rule. I dropped like gum, candy, etc on the floor and ate them. I ve eaten food with unwashed hands. Just today, after pushing a shopping cart at the store and touching various stuff, I ve used my hands to open and put a piece of gum in my mouth.
Unless it’s like a public bathroom, dropping a retainer on the road, it’s highly unlikely you will get hepatitis B. I be more worried about getting food at a restaurant bc you never know if the cook, waiter or both have hepatitis a b c d, hiv, aids, herpes, or anything else
I’m using the Clorox Pro disinfecting wipes to disinfect surfaces that might have gotten in contact with HBV. Clorox’s website (https://www.cloroxpro.com/products/clorox/clorox-disinfecting-wipes/), claims these wipes can kill HBV in 15 seconds. However, I noticed that this product is not included in the list of antimicrobial products issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-12/2021.12.02.list-d.pdf), even though that list includes a number of other Clorox products. I wonder if this is because this disinfecting wipe does not pass some criteria used by the EPA, but I cannot seem to find any relevant information online. Can I actually trust the efficacy of the Clorox wipes as claimed on their website?
Welcome to the forum and great question! I’m actually not sure how these products get onto this EPA list. But I do note that they include a line “This disinfectant list is not an exhaustive list of all the products that are approved for this particular pest”.
@john.tavis might know more about the chemicals in those wipes and their effect on viruses, but I think QACs are pretty standard disinfectants that should disrupt the membrane of viruses (including HBV).
I am not really an expert in this, but the active ingredients are some pretty harsh detergents that would readily destroy the viral membrane. Clorox is a reputable company, so I would trust the ingredients list to be accurate. As to the 15 seconds claim–I cannot verify that, but I would not be surprised if it were right. It of course depends on some other variables (temperature, how much HBV is there, is it in a crack that shields it from the liquid in the wipes, how much of the liquid contacts the virus, etc.), but my gut feeling is that it would nicely kill HBV if properly wiped down on a non-porous surface. Note that there are so many such products that it is impossible for the EPA (or any other regulatory agency) to test them all.
I have another question that I think falls under this topic: when I use soap to wash my hands to get rid of HBV, should I always make sure that all the soap is completely rinsed off of my hands? Can the virus survive in the soapy water that remains, if I fail to rinse away all the soap?
I tried to look up how soap works, but I found some different information on this topic: some say that soap can break the membrane of the virus on contact (so a bit of residue soapy water is probably fine), but others say soap works by making it possible to wash the virus away (which seems to indicate that the rinsing is very important).
Both mechanical removal of the virus and disruption of its membrane are done by washing with soap. I would not worry about a slight remaining residue as it is likely that only a very small amount of virus was on your hands to start with (unless you have a high titer infection and had a lot of blood all over your hands), most of it will be washed off, and the residual soap residue will impair any remaining virus. Mostly, I’d concentrate on washing very thoroughly as recommended by public health agencies: get lots of soap on your hands, scrub for at least 20 seconds, and make sure you get into the folds of your skin and under the nails.
Hello, I have similar questions to @suwang88. Especially when it comes to menstruation and entering a pool or hot tub. Is it inadvisable for HepB+ folks who are menstruating to use a hot tub or pool?