is it necessary to use a mouth wash?

Red_Doe

You should spit not rinse after brushing otherwise the toothpaste doesnt sit on the teeth doing good.

When my daughter was still in school, their chemistry class analysed common brands of toothpastes. Without exception they all contained sugar (!), some in quantities which were ridiculously high. So I don't think leaving the toothpaste to sit on the teeth is entirely a good idea unless you can be sure of the sugar levels in the paste.

Apollonia

Toothsmith wrote: »

Corsodyl IS effective - for particular problems. But any chlorohexidine mouthwash will stain your teeth brown (It does polish off though) so you should only use it if you've been recommended to use it by your dentist or hygienist, and I wouldn't recommend it for anybody long-term unless there were very specific dental problems combined with some medical problems.

Peroxide mouthwashes such as Peroxyl are also very effective for a different set of problems - again though only really required if you have been specifically recommended to.

For everything else though, I would be a happy man if all other mouthwashes disappeared, Rapture style, overnight.

They are a waste of money, useless at best and often do more harm than good.

Couldn't agree more! And the current advert for Corsodyl is increasing the number of patients I see who have started buying it when they don't need it. :mad:
To be fair, the wording in the ad says 'treats gum disease' and NOT 'prevents gum disease', but I wish it was kept at the pharmacy counter and not on the open shelf beside all the other mouth washes.

I've actually stopped someone buying it in the supermarket . I overheard her say to her partner, "That's the one I saw on tv, I'll try that one because I don't want to get gum disease."
I pointed out the label where it warns you about stained teeth and told her it should only be used if recommended by a health professional - she put it back.

Toothsmith

Red_Doe wrote: »

You should spit not rinse after brushing otherwise the toothpaste doesnt sit on the teeth doing good.

When my daughter was still in school, their chemistry class analysed common brands of toothpastes. Without exception they all contained sugar (!), some in quantities which were ridiculously high. So I don't think leaving the toothpaste to sit on the teeth is entirely a good idea unless you can be sure of the sugar levels in the paste.

This is utter rubbish.

There is no sugar in any major brand of toothpaste. I haven't seen any minor brands with any in either.

You cannot put stuff in a product, and not list it in the ingredients. Plus, if it was present, it wouldn't take long before it was noticed.

A few may have xylitol in, which is an artificial sweetener, but xylitol is actually good for teeth and reduces decay.

Toothsmith

maman wrote: »

I'm not a fan of mouthwash personally but my DH feels he needs it for his teeth/mouth to feel fresh. I buy the Dentalux from Lidl (about 50p?) and that seems to suit him fine. I'm sure that more expensive brands are good for specific problems but for anyone reading who just wants the fresh taste then I can recommend this.

Cheaper brands are more likely to be more acidic and therefore more errosive.

Toothsmith

Jenny007 wrote: »

Im glad this topic has come up! Im currently using Corsodyl mouthwash due to having my mouth wired shut but had noticed my teeth looking rather brown (yuck!)
Toothsmith would you be able to answer a question for me? (obviously understand if youre not allowed to) I was told by the hospital to use it after I ate or drunk anything (Due to being wired shut ive been having milkshakes etc which are obviously very sugary) But then I visited the dentist and hygeinist who told me to use it twice a day as it has 12 hour protection, thus covering me all day. Im usnsure of which advice to follow? Many thanks if you can help?

Chlorhexidine is absorbed by the gum and released over time. Therefore I would go with your dentist's recommendation.

The recommendation in hospital probably came from a nurse who wasn't a dental specialist. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with her advice, but Corsodyl's protection will last for longer than just whilst it's in your mouth.

With it being so hard to clean your teeth though, try and keep the frequency of your sugary intakes to a minimum (3 or 4 a day at the most). But - if you're having a sugar intake, there is no limit to how much you can have!

Aim for a few big food (mush!) intakes rather than lots of snacks and drinks. Is it a surgical repositioning you've had or an accident?

Red_Doe

Toothsmith wrote: »

This is utter rubbish.

There is no sugar in any major brand of toothpaste. I haven't seen any minor brands with any in either.

You cannot put stuff in a product, and not list it in the ingredients. Plus, if it was present, it wouldn't take long before it was noticed.

A few may have xylitol in, which is an artificial sweetener, but xylitol is actually good for teeth and reduces decay.

Well, I don't know what to say to you Toothsmith ...
The senior class analysed the sugar content of, amongst others, Colgate toothpaste and DID find sugar in them. Perhaps since then (a few years ago) they've changed that but I wouldn't know. I was only commenting on what happened.
And, hey, 'stuff' is in plenty of products that isn't listed, it's fairly easy to get around labelling rules.

Toothsmith

There is no sugar in toothpaste.

The experiment might have been looking for sweeteners - which are present. But there is no sugar.

Even if there was only a little bit, if people scrubbed their teeth last thing at night with a paste with sugar in it, there would be an absolute explosion of tooth decay. It couldn't be hidden.

Red_Doe

Ok, we'll just have to disagree politely on this matter if you don't mind. What happened was, the class then wrote up an article on it for the local community newsletter. It wasn't sweeteners...the presence of those was also identified in other toothpastes. It WAS sugar. Whether or not they've now changed that I don't know, probably so, this is going back a few years, but the whole class, science teacher and myself aren't lying about the findings.
Hopefully things will have changed and there will no longer be sugar in toothpaste.

brook2jack

The great sugar in toothpaste myth was first peddled in America in the late seventies and is still trotted out to sell "natural" toothpastes. It came about because of confusion between sugar which causes decay and alcohols derived from sugar such as xylitol which protect against decay. People also got confused with sucrose which is sugar and sucrolol which is not. Senior school sugar testing is no more sophisticated than burning toothpaste to test for carbohydrate which will not reveal the chemical formula of the many constituents. Finally by both EU and UK law labelling of pharmaceutical agents which fluoride containing toothpaste is,is a very serious matter.So sugar cannot be slipped in without labelling.However many "Natural"toothpastes sold in health food shops are labelled and do contain sugar.Toothpaste has not contained sugar other than above for many years.The school experiment was either misunderstood by your child or by the teacher as none of the brands mentioned have ever contained sugar. Just sweetners derived from sugar which cannot be metabolised by the bacteria in plaque to form acid.

coldstreamalways

Red_Doe wrote: »

Ok, we'll just have to disagree politely on this matter if you don't mind. What happened was, the class then wrote up an article on it for the local community newsletter. It wasn't sweeteners...the presence of those was also identified in other toothpastes. It WAS sugar. Whether or not they've now changed that I don't know, probably so, this is going back a few years, but the whole class, science teacher and myself aren't lying about the findings.
Hopefully things will have changed and there will no longer be sugar in toothpaste.

But this is utter utter rubbish and in fact if my child went to a school where they "discovered" this I would be in the headteacher's in tray before he had chance to say "can we hire a new chemistry teacher?".

No commercially available toothpaste has sugar in, not fructose, sucrose, glucose, lactose or any of the other myriad sugars there are around. FACT. Ergo, someone is lying, or has awful chemistry skills!

I for one absolutely hate mouthwash. Patients rinse with the hideous smelling stuff before they come for treatment and it stinks. Some people think it;s an acceptable alternative for toothbrushing which it isn't and the majority of it is full of alcohol. You may as well rinse with Scotch. At least that doesn't smell so bad!

It is a marketing tool that appears to work well, IMHO fewer than 10% of people benefit from regular mouthwash use. Waste of time and money.