Kosher: Toothbrushes

If I have a milky meal and a meaty meal and brush my teeth after with th same toothbrush is this ok?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question!

The Torah ban on mixing milk and meat has three components: 1. A ban on eating mixtures of milk and meat that were cooked together. 2. A ban on cooking milk and meat together (even if one has no intention of eating it....it is still forbidden) and 3. A ban on benefiting from a mixture of milk and meat that had been cooked together.

The rabbis added a number of safeguards to the laws of milk and meat to ensure that we never come to violate the Torah’s rules. For example, the rabbi forbade eating meat and milk even if they were not cooked together and even required a waiting period after eating meat before eating milk.

However, regarding toothbrush, there is no need to have sperate toothbrushes after having eaten meat and after having eaten milk. This is because the water sued when brushing teeth is not hot enough to cause a transfer of taste from any meat/milk residue in your mouth onto your toothpaste. So too, the toothpaste ruins any taste is your mouth rendering non-food. So too, one promptly rinses off a toothbrush after use thereby ensuring there are no remains from one’s brushing.

For these and other reasons, there is no need to have seprate toothbrushes. A single toothbrush is acceptable. That being said, a toothbrush should be changed just prior to Pesach as we are more strict when it comes to Pesach.

On a related note, there is no need to have sperate dentures for milk and meat.