Smart toothbrushes that connect to the World Wide Web and keep electronic dental records were among the most talked-about items at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress last year, but even these advanced oral hygiene instruments are not impervious to accumulating fecal matter if they are left in the bathroom.

According to a 2014 report by Sam Schechner of the Wall Street Journal, household goods giant Procter & Gamble introduced a new device labeled as the world’s first available interactive electric toothbrush. At the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, a spokesperson for Procter & Gamble explained that the market for smart toothbrushes is rapidly expanding, and that in 10 years we are all going to be brushing and storing our dental records in the cloud.

Procter & Gamble was not the only company to introduce a smart toothbrush in 2014. French startup Kolibree also claimed to have been the first to connect a toothbrush to what is known as the Internet of Things, which is based on the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) protocol. By implementing this protocol into electric and electronic devices, “smart” objects can connect to smartphones or to cloud servers.

Kolibree was inspired by a tech investor who was thinking about ways to encourage his children to brush properly and more often; through this pondering, the investor thought about gamification, a process whereby electronic data is collected from an activity and presented in a format that is interesting, fun and attractive. By equipping toothbrushes with sensors and analytics, smart toothbrush developers are hoping to revolutionize the dental health industry.

One idea that is currently being considered for future smart toothbrushes is a way to measure the bacteria they accumulate. A recent study from the American Society for Microbiology explained that toothbrushes left in the open inside bathrooms are at risk of accumulating fecal matter molecules. When the bathroom is shared by many people, the chances of finding toothbrushes with fecal matter bacteria increases to 80 percent.

In 2013, the Flikier Dental Institute of Costa Rica published a report that explained how fecal matter can land in your toothbrush. It so happens that airborne particles from the toilet can travel to a distance of up to six feet. Think about all the splashing that takes place on every flush, and then think about how you never close the lid of the toilet, which is probably about a meter away since bathroom spaces in Costa Rica tends to be small.

Suddenly, the European design of separate water closets (WC) begins to make sense, particularly if you leave your toothbrush in a cup near the sink, which tends to be right next to the toilet in Costa Rica.