Listerine stains your teeth. Mildly furious to discover this

[lesley_x]

Mouthwash often reacts with ingredients in toothpaste and causes staining. Try using the mouthwash at midday and brushing morning and night. Apart from anything else if you use mouthwash directly after brushing your teeth you rinse away all the toothpaste which defeats the purpose of using it.

 

[Large]

A lot of mouthwashes cause some staining. I use Corsodyl and it says on the bottle that it may cause staining. I've been using an Oral B 3D electric brush for years now and it's excellent. £50 well spent.

I still haven't found the perfect toothpaste, however.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Stephen Fry covered this on QI so it must be true;

Halitosis was entirely made-up by Lambert Pharmacal, the company behind Listerine, named after Joseph Lister, the so-called father of antiseptic surgery. Weirdly the antiseptic used in surgeries was also used to clean floors and used as a cure for gonorrhoea, then as a mouthwash without changing the formula. The reason they made up halitosis was so they could sell the mouthwash, because there wasn't a need for it before, so the company made claims such as "hotel clerks say one in three guests checking in have halitosis" and "dentists say 83% of patients have halitosis".​

And as TMN said, dentists will tell you that mouthwash isn't necessary for oral hygiene.

GC

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Unfortunately, the whole 'Listerine/Lambert made up halitosis' meme is an urban myth - just 'cos Stephen Fry says something doesn't make it true. There are records of 'halitosis' being used as a term a long time before Listerine was invented...

LIAR!




GC

 

[KEEF]

so what do you call smelly breath..................................................I know smelly breath

 

[midlife]

Listerine does not cause staining as far as I am aware, It's the chlorhexidine in Corsodyl that stains teeth brown and indeed there is a warning on the label.

The only mouthwash with proven clinical activity enough to "treat" gum problems is Corsodyl, the others don't actually do anything (unless you count fluoride for cavity protection). Unfortunately Corsodyl has side effects if used for a long time and a toothbrush is much better at doing the job than chemicals anyway......

Shaun

 

[Globalti]

If it's French it can't be any good - on several occasions during the time I lived in France, I got quite "close" to French girls then recoiled in horror at the bad breath. That was in the mid 80s though when companies like Unilever were trotting out some pretty grim statistics about soap usage and toothbrush ownership in France.

 

[mr brambles]

hygienist, and my teeth

 

[mr brambles]

g

 

[Ganymede]

Well I am getting to work with my interdental brushes and throwing my Listerine away. I do think it had a good effect on my gums but I would rather use salty water and have a good scrub. I use Sensodyne btw.

I found a webshite that said if you use mouthwash at night it avoids staining because it is the interaction with food that causes the problem, and you have at least 8 food-free hours overnight (barring midnight feasts). I also think I should always rinse with water after drinking tea or coffee but I never had much of a prob before using the mouthwash so I think I'm ok.

And I'm getting an electric toofbrush, dammit.

 

[pplpilot]

Remember folks the British dental 'industry' is worth around about £6 Billion a year. They will tell you anything...

 

[Ganymede]

Remember folks the British dental 'industry' is worth around about £6 Billion a year. They will tell you anything...

This had crossed my mind. However, given that my last dentist told me *nothing* I am happy to learn!

 

[Globalti]

It's becoming clearer and clearer that oral health has a significant bearing on general health. If you have gum disease a whole host of nasty bacteria are finding their way into your bloodstream, and I guess your oral hygiene is an indication of your general level of attention to health and wellbeing.

 

[Moodyman]

You could always try 'miswak'. It's natural and cheap.

massive in the Middle East. North Africa and Asia.

 

[MontyVeda]

Since buying an electric toothbrush I haven't needed to see a dental hygienist, and my teeth are 'challenging', shall we say (i.e. pretty crooked). I don't think it's possible to clean teeth properly with an ordinary toothbrush. My dentist told me to avoid mouthwashes as they don't do anything useful.

My Doctor told me they're just a gimmick, and a simple salt solution is better, and cheaper... he might not be a dentist but I'm willing to believe him.