Merging Solid Bodies - reducing computer performance

Hi guys,

I'm currently trying to create a toothbrush as a solid bodies exercise,

I am pretty happy with the majority of it so far but when I have tried creating the bristles it has made each bristle its own solid body,

So now I have around 1600+ solid bodies which is making working on the rest of the toothbrush near impossible,

Is there any way to merge them without them connecting with each other?

Thanks in advance!