On the basis of these data, it is unlikely that topical antiseptics are effective to significantly reduce the frequency, magnitude, and duration of bacteremia associated with a dental procedure. Cumulative Risk Over Time of Bacteremias From Routine Daily Activities Compared With the Bacteremia From a Dental Procedure Guntheroth81 estimated a cumulative exposure of 5370 min- utes of bacteremia over a 1-month period in dentulous patients resulting from random bacteremia from chewing food and from oral hygiene measures, such as tooth brushing and flossing, and compared that with a duration of bacteremia lasting 6 to 30 minutes associated with a single tooth extraction. Roberts62 estimated that tooth brushing 2 times daily for 1 year had a 154 000 times greater risk of exposure to bacteremia than that resulting from a single tooth extrac- tion. The cumulative exposure during 1 year to bacteremia from routine daily activities may be as high as 5.6 million times greater than that resulting from a single tooth extrac- tion, the dental procedure reported to be most likely to cause Data exist for the duration of bacteremia from a single tooth extraction, and it is possible to estimate the annual cumulative exposure from dental procedures for the average individual. However, calculations for the incidence, nature, and duration of bacteremia from routine daily activities are at best rough estimates, and it is therefore not possible to compare precisely the cumulative monthly or annual duration of exposure for bacteremia from dental procedures compared with routine daily activities. Nevertheless, even if the esti- mates of bacteremia from routine daily activities are off by a factor of 1000, it is likely that the frequency and cumulative duration of exposure to bacteremia from routine daily events over 1 year are much higher than those that result from dental procedures. 