Things You Need to Know about Bad Breath Mouthwash

Would you use a mouthwash if you knew it would make your teeth fall out?

A dentist-led research team at the Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital in Chennai, India conducted a test of survival rates of gum tissue exposed to three common mouthwashes (the third far more common outside the USA than within it):

Listerine
Chlorhexidine (a prescription mouthwash), and
1% iodine solution.

All three products were found to stop the growth of the fibroblasts that create new, healthy gum tissue. But the product that did the most harm to healthy tissue?

Listerine.

That really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Listerine was not originally designed for use as a mouthwash. It was originally designed as a detergent for cleaning surgical theaters.

The famous English physician Joseph Lister, whose services to medical care earned him a knighthood, mixed water, alcohol, and essences of eucalyptus and several other herbs to create the antiseptic that bears his name, Listerine. In the 1880’s, Listerine took the medical world by storm. Every up-to-date surgeon started not only washing his (there were no female surgeons) hands between patients and ordered the cleaning lady (there were no cleaning men) to scrub down the operating room with Listerine.

By the beginning of the 1900’s other products became more popular for cleaning surgical theaters, so Listerine was advertised as just the thing to be added to the mop water. During the First World War, Listerine enjoyed a brief spate of popularity as a treatment for venereal disease. And then in 1921 the makers of Listerine hit on the brilliant idea of selling Listerine as a treatment for “chronic halitosis.”

Before 1921, the term in the English language for bad breath was simply “bad breath.” But “chronic halitosis” sounded like something you would need a medicine to treat. Dr. Lister had passed on, but he was still remembered for his ability to produce amazing advances in surgery—people no longer died because their surgeons did not wash hands before operating. So in just a few years annual sales of Listerine soared from $115,000 to the then-amazing sum of $8,000,000, and to hundreds of millions of dollars each year today.

The problem with Listerine is its alcohol content. Alcohol kills bacteria at a concentration of just 7%. In the original gold Listerine, alcohol is present in a concentration of 26.9%. Listerine indeed kills the bacteria that cause bad breath, but it also kills the tissues that keep your teeth in place.

And because the alcohol in Listerine dries out your mouth, it creates millions of microscopic cracks and crevices for bacteria to take root. The genius of Listerine is that you have to keep using it, because it keeps creating places for bad breath bacteria to flourish.

Other chemical mouthwashes present other problems. The also-popular mouthwash Scope has a lower concentration of alcohol, that does less damage to mouth tissue. Unfortunately, Scope also contains two dyes made of proven harmful chemical compounds, Blue 5, and Yellow 1, that unquestionably aggravate skin allergies and hives, and that may trigger attention deficit in both children and adults.

Oral-B contains chlorhexidine, one of the chemicals found to kill gum tissue, which also kills taste buds and the glands that secrete saliva. Chlorhexidine is safe only for occasional use.

Colgate mouthwash contains triclosan. This is a wonderful chemical for deodorizing sewage sludge, and it’s also the chemical used to make deodorizing trash bags. In the human mouth, however, it releases a nasty chemical known as dioxin, which is a potent nerve agent that can cause erectile dysfunction (particularly in men on South Asian descent). Mouthwashes containing triclosan were taken off the market in the UK out of concern that they could cause the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There is also a potential chemical reaction between triclosan and tap water that can release chloroform gas.

Other products are not quite as harmful to healthy tissue. The two-bottle system SmartMouth creates a rinse that accumulates zinc ions on receptor sites for sulfur-laden proteins in bad breath bacteria. When these receptor sites don’t work, bacteria can’t feed on the proteins in food particles or inside cracks in the mouth or tongue. They don’t later release the stinky compounds containing sulfur. SmartMouth keeps breath fresh for up to 12 hours at a time and is safe for children, although it will not mask bad breath caused by eating garlic, onions, or aged cheeses, or bad breath caused by tonsil stones.

And the best scientific information confirms that there are some products that are both natural and effective for people who have problems with halitosis. Sarakan is a mouthwash containing natural oils of peppermint, geranium, and cloves. If you also include tongue cleaning in your daily oral health routine, it’s exactly what you need to cure bad breath. The oil of cloves will also stop tooth pain.

Astring-O-Sol is based on herbal medicine that was well-known in the time of Jesus, who is said to have received a gift of its main ingredient, myrrh. (This is not to say the Baby Jesus had bad breath. Perhaps the Three Wise Men knew Mary, Joseph, and Jesus would soon take flight to Egypt, where onions were the main vegetable in the diet.) Myrrh provides a kind of protection that no other mouthwash offers. It “tans” the proteins in the lining of the mouth, gums, and tongue so that they do not form cracks that house bad-breath bacteria. Most people say that Astring-O-Sol tastes a little like root beer.

Simply rinsing your mouth with water or any warm black, green, red, or white tea you brew at home is probably better than using a harsh chemical mouthwash like Listerine or Scope. But for getting rid of bad breath for good, use a natural, herbal mouthwash product with the help of scraping the tongue every day for lasting fresh breath. You can buy a natural mouthwash or you can make one from home. Click here to find out how you can easily create a safe and inexpensive mouthwash that will eliminate your bad breath in 90 seconds flat and leave your breath smelling fresh the entire day…