Think about it: would you want to re-use silverware several times a day without washing it? Or repeatedly insert a germ-laden object, contaminated with Candida Albicans, E. coli and Streptococcus, into your mouth? Bocca Pura doesn’t think so.

Italian for “clean mouth,” Bocca Pura is launching a battle against germy toothbrushes. Bocca Pura boasts that spraying the toothbrush purifier product once or twice daily on your toothbrush will exterminate 99.9 percent of germs. Uniquely, the substance does not contain alcohol but rather natural ingredients in a proprietary formula of essential oils.

According to the company, other methods of sanitizing toothbrushes have major drawbacks. Dishwashers can distribute leftover particles of food, and hydrogen peroxide is intended for external use only. Commercial manual and electronic products are considerably more expensive and can take up to an hour to complete the sanitizing cycle.

Although developed for toothbrushes, the product’s disinfectant prowess qualifies it for other uses, and recent concerns about H1N1 outbreaks have created new opportunities. As a hand sanitizer, Bocca Pura triumphs over alcohol-based competitors, which can result in dry skin and leave an unpleasant sticky residue. Some additional uses mentioned include shopping cart handles, toilet seats in public restrooms and hotels, door handles, diaper changing stations and public telephones.

The company has roots in health and nutrition, and it’s looking to grow:

• Bocca Pura was developed by Optimum Health LLC, founded in 1994 in Valencia, California as a nutritional supplement and counseling company
• The product is available in a one-ounce travel size, priced at $6.95, and a four-ounce family size for $14.95
• Bocca Pura is seeking distributors and is offering special pricing as an incentive

The company’s founder, whose background is in natural foods and supplements, found a way to make lemonade out of lemons when his kidney transplant inspired the development of Bocca Pura. Transplant patients’ immune systems are suppressed, lessening the odds of organ rejection, but also leaving the patients more vulnerable to pathogens. Bocca Pura was his answer to this risk.

Even healthy users can benefit from the product, according to Bocca Pura. It claims to contribute to improved dental health, stronger gums, fresher breath and whiter teeth as a result of the cosmetic-grade hydrogen used in the formula. The company recommends an extra spritz on teeth and gums after brushing and advises use on toothbrush travel cases, retainers and mouth guards.

Saverio Persico, chief operating officer and co-founder, said, “Just recently, people in the cosmetic industry have been interested in the product, and they are starting to understand what we do and point out other newer and better benefits that even we didn’t expect. Orthodontists have used our products. We have testimonials from doctors who love the product.”

As the product finds new uses and new markets, Bocca Pura is counting on its natural approach to clean living to brush aside competitors. At a time when microscopic menaces are posing a larger threat, it’s hard to go wrong with a pure mouth.