Is Mouthwash Good or Bad For Your Health?
Mouthwash
has quickly become a staple product in many households, a bottle might
even be sitting in your bathroom cabinet next to the toothpaste right
now. Even with a hefty price tag for an oral care product, mouthwash
earned quite a lot of fans, with over 200 million people using it daily
in the United States alone. Honestly speaking, this is isn’t surprising
given that it is marketed as a miracle cure - a product capable of
preventing gum disease and cavities, getting rid of bad breath and even
whitening your teeth. But can mouthwash actually do all that, and even
if so, are there any dangers to using mouthwash for a long period of
time? Scroll down for the answers.
Can Mouthwash Do What It Claims?
Mouthwash
really appeals to our senses with its refreshing minty sweet flavor and
that clean feeling in your mouth. However, these feelings are quite
misleading, as mouthwash is actually not nearly as effective at cleaning
your teeth as it seems, which is why it can't replace regular brushing
and flossing.
In
recent years, the effectiveness of mouthwash has been increasingly
questioned as well. For one, it has been long observed that mouthwash
cannot get rid of bad breath for a long time, but it turns out that the
vast majority of mouthwash can also do very little for plaque reduction
and gum disease prevention.
1. Gum Disease Prevention
Certain kinds of mouthwash, namely those that contain an ingredient called chlorhexidine have
been known to help prevent the spread of gum infections in people with
acute cases of gum disease, but these should NOT be used for more than a
week or two since they can cause brown staining and encourage tartar
formation.
2. Plaque Reduction
There is some evidence
suggesting that using a mouthwash twice a day can reduce the amount of
plaque on the teeth, but all of these studies looked at a good oral
hygiene altogether, and not at mouthwash alone, so we can’t reliably
conclude that it’s the mouthwash and not brushing and flossing that’s
contributing to the plaque reduction.
3. Protection From Cavities
Mouthwash that contains fluoride may
help protect your teeth from cavities, but only if you keep it in your
mouth for a minute, which most people don’t; interestingly, the same
effect can be achieved by not rinsing your mouth with water after
brushing your teeth with toothpaste that contains fluoride.
Sure,
if you need to mask bad breath in a pinch, mouthwash may help, but
using it on a daily basis can be a waste of your money, especially since
you can make a natural DIY mouthwash
from ingredients you already have at home. Apart from that, some
varieties of mouthwash can actually clash with your toothpaste, as they
can contain ingredients that cancel out the active ingredients in your
toothpaste.
Can Mouthwash Be Harmful?
There
are several known concerns with mouthwash, both regarding its effects
on the body and the ingredients that are often used in these products.
Let’s start from a list of controversial ingredients that can be harmful
to your oral health if used long-term:
1. Alcohol
A
huge quantity of mouthwash on the market contains quite high quantities
of alcohol, which is known to be very drying and may contribute to a dry mouth
if used on an everyday basis. Keep in mind that having a dry mouth is
more than just an unpleasant sensation, it’s a potentially dangerous
condition that increases one’s risk of developing cavities, gum disease,
oral yeast infections, and even digestive issues.
You
should also make sure that kids under the age of 6 don't use mouthwash
that contains alcohol, as even the smallest quantity ingested by small
children may hinder their normal development.
2. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
In short, sulfates like this can be bad because they are very drying
and sensitizing, an issue that becomes even worse when you’re using it
inside your mouth. Dry mouth and mouth sores can be caused by SLS.
Apart from that, SLS is technically
a type of salt, so if you happen to ingest it, it will count as part of
your sodium intake, an intake that’s already typically too high in most
people.
3. Saccharin and Other Sweeteners
Manufacturers
will typically add some kind of sweetener to mouthwash to make it more
pleasant for your taste buds. The problem with this is that sugar is
absolutely unnecessary in mouthwash products and can actually worsen
your oral health, not to mention you can end up ingesting more artificial sweeteners as if most people don’t eat too much sugar and sugar replacements already.
4. Chlorhexidine
Chlorhexidine is
a good ingredient if you use it right. It’s typically found in
mouthwash varieties that market themselves as ‘antiseptic’ or
‘antibacterial’, and it does kill the bacteria in your mouth. This is
good if you’re currently treating some kind of acute infection, but if
you're using an antibacterial mouthwash every day, you’re ruining your
oral micro-biome - the healthy bacteria that live in your mouth and help
your body fight off bad bacteria. It's best to opt out antibacterial
mouthwash unless you were prescribed it to treat a condition.
Irrespective of ingredients, mouthwash has also been linked to increased risk of hypertension and cancers of
the mouth, vocal cords, throat, and esophagus. There is not enough
scientific evidence to claim that frequent use of mouthwash (3 times/day
or more) causes these conditions and we hope that will soon change
given than so many people may be using a harmful product on an everyday
basis.
The bottom line
is that there is no real reason for someone to be using mouthwash if
they’re not suffering from an acute infection in the oral cavity, as the
risks of the product seem to outweigh its benefits. Apart from that,
the use of mouthwash seems to make a very minor contribution to your
oral hygiene regimen, so you'd be saving a lot of money and time by
avoiding it altogether.