Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: paul.fr on 28/03/2007 05:17:56

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: paul.fr on 28/03/2007 05:17:56

Apart from giving you nice, mainly minty, fresh breath. Does it clean plaque or kill germs and if it does how effective is it?

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: another_someone on 28/03/2007 05:21:25

As far as I can tell, mouthwashes contain antiseptics (such as hypochlorites and alcohol - so beware if you get breathalised afterwards).

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: paul.fr on 28/03/2007 06:40:32

Quote from: another_someone on 28/03/2007 05:21:25

As far as I can tell, mouthwashes contain antiseptics (such as hypochlorites and alcohol - so beware if you get breathalised afterwards).

oh yes. i remember one of the kitchen sciences did such a thing with an Australian backpacker.

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: chris on 28/03/2007 09:14:04

The most common reason people give for using mouthwash is to freshen breath. Adverts on the bottle claim to kill bugs in the mouth. But most of these mouthwashes are based on alcohol formulations and whilst they will kill some bugs they also have a temporary drying effect on the mouth, which can make halitosis worse because the causative bacteria can rebound in number very rapidly.

Chris

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: paul.fr on 28/03/2007 09:51:25

Quote from: chris on 28/03/2007 09:14:04

The most common reason people give for using mouthwash is to freshen breath. Adverts on the bottle claim to kill bugs in the mouth. But most of these mouthwashes are based on alcohol formulations and whilst they will kill some bugs they also have a temporary drying effect on the mouth, which can make halitosis worse because the causative bacteria can rebound in number very rapidly.

Chris

Would that be the same for the antiseptic mouthwash also, Chris?

Title: Mouthwash
Post by: chris on 29/03/2007 01:13:47

Often yes; alcohol is an antiseptic, so check what you're buying!