If youare one of those who seem to be bothered by the idea of having bacteria lodgedon your toothbrush, you can try nature's very own tooth brush: Miswak akaChewing Stick.

Miswak(Chewing Sticks) are twigs obtained from mainly the Arak Tree (SalvadoraPersica) although a few other trees can also be used. They have been used sincetimes immemorial for maintaining dental health where a toothbrush was muchalien to them as the Miswak is to us today. The practice continues today and iswidespread among the Muslims which can be traced to their religious beliefs.The Miswak is a common sight in the Middle East and constitutes a large part oforal health maintenance if not all for many people. The Miswak is not confinedonly to the Muslims and has been embraced by many cultures as an effective toolfor dental health maintenance.

Now, whatdoes this has to do with toothbrush sanitization? A lot infact! This is becauseMiswak has natural anti-microbial properties which mean there are no bacterialcolonies thriving on the twig. Although, common perception of people might leadthem to think otherwise, there is no harm done when using this natural wondertwig for dental health maintenance.

Infact,if reports are to be believed, it is more effective than your toothbrush! Ihave outlined these studies conducted on Miswak on my website. The studiesespecially stress Miswak's ability to fight against plaque and gum disease. Onestudy carried out by Swedish researchers showed the Miswak's ability to killbacteria without even being in contact with them. This fuelled the proposal bythe researchers that Miswak was able to give off antibiotics in gas form whichenabled it to kill the bacteria with out any physical contact.

We useadvanced methods for toothbrush sanitization but never look towards nature forhelp. The market is flooded with advanced gizmos for toothbrush sanitization.Every other week, there is a new sanitization project launched which claims tokill up to 99.999% bacteria. Keeping in mind that there is no concrete evidenceto suggest the need for toothbrush sanitization, splurging on a toothbrushsanitizer might not be a good idea after all especially when we have natureoffering us a better solution.

Lookingat a Miswak it is a simple brown twig with one of its ends cut off to exposethe bristles. These bristles are more effective than your toothbrush's bristleswhen it comes to cleaning between teeth. This is because these bristles areparallel to the handle rather than perpendicular as in a conventionaltoothbrush. A Miswak is softened overnight in water the first time before use.Biting or chewing on the bristles releases a strong anti-microbial juice whichnot only eliminates bacteria in your mouth but also removes bad odor andcreates a fragrance in the mouth.

AlthoughMiswak is not readily available in the western world, they can easily beordered via online services which deliver it to your doorstep. The price mayseem diminutive for a thing which provides such immense benefits.