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Mouthwash

What’s the Best Mouthwash for Bad Breath?

Oral Health & Hygiene

Nov 16, 2011

Best Mouth Wash for Bad Breath — ©Tab62/Shutterstock.com

Did you know that as many as half of all Americans say that they suffer from bad breath?

Many people have turned to mouthwash to try to curb their oral odor, but does mouthwash really help fight bad breath? If so, which one is the best?

Mouthwash Can Fight Bad Breath

Many mouthwashes used to simply provide a strong, pleasant aroma to cover up bad breath. As time passed, mouthwash manufacturers began adding certain ingredients to their mouthwashes to help fight bad breath.

Today, there are many varieties of mouthwash available. Although most of them have flavors that would appear to freshen your breath, only mouthwashes that contain certain ingredients are able to help fight bad breath.
Researchers wanted to find out whether or not mouthwashes actually helped fight bad breath. The following quote is from a systematic review that combined the results of five different studies to determine the following:
“This review, which included ﬁve trials (293 participants), found that there is some evidence that mouthrinses containing antibacterial agents such as chlorhexidine and cetylpyridinium chloride or those containing chlorine dioxide and zinc can to some extent reduce the unpleasant odour but the use of mouthrinses containing chlorhexidine resulted in noticeable but temporary staining of the tongue and teeth.”

As long as the mouthwash contains an antibacterial agent such as chlorhexidine or cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) or zinc and/or chlorine dioxide, it may be able to fight bad breath.

Before trying a mouthwash to control your bad breath, try one of these five methods to find out if you have bad breath and then try to find out what is causing your bad breath by learning about some common causes of bad breath.

Which Mouthwash Is Best for Bad Breath?

In the United States, mouthwashes containing chlorhexidine are only available by prescription. The only antibacterial that this review found to be effective against bad breath that is also available over the counter in the United States is CPC. CPC in combination with zinc can be found in many mouthwashes.

This BreathRx mouthwash from Amazon contains CPC as well as zinc to neutralize bad breath-causing volatile sulfur compounds. Crest Pro Health mouthwashes are another alternative, but they have been the target of some rather negative reviews.

You may be wondering where other mouthwash products such as Listerine fit in. Listerine contains a variety of essential oils that decrease bad breath. Although Listerine was shown to decrease bad breath in many of the studies that were reviewed, products containing an antibacterial along with zinc were shown to do a better job at fighting bad breath.

Is Mouthwash the Best Method of Fighting Bad Breath?

Although many people use mouthwash because it is easy to simply rinse their mouth out, there are other ways of fighting bad breath. Good oral hygiene along with cleaning your tongue has been shown to reduce bad breath. Getting rid of the pl

Do you have any questions or comments about mouthwash and bad breath? Leave your comments below. Thanks for reading!

How Much Fluoride Is In Fluoride Gel and Other Dental Products?

Fluoride

Jun 20, 2011

Fluoride Toothpaste on Brush — ©Tamas Panczel Eross/Shutterstock.com

My brother was at the dentist a few days ago and he was wondering if it was worth it to have his dentist apply a fluoride gel to his teeth. He wanted to know if there was really that much more fluoride in the dentist’s gel than is in his toothpaste and fluoride mouthwash. I told him that there is a lot more fluoride in the professionally-applied gels than there is in his home dental care products.

Usually dentists only give children fluoride gel at routine appointments, however adults may benefit from fluoride treatment. In the book Fluoride in Dentistry, Ole Fejerskov states, “Fluoride-containing mouth gels may be applied, usually by the dental professional once yearly, to individuals living in communities with low concentrations of fluoride in the water supply.” If you live in a community with water fluoridation and you brush your teeth with fluoridated toothpaste, you may want to consult with your dentist on whether or not the extra fluoride will do any good. After answering his question, I thought that other people may be interested in how much fluoride there is in different dental products. To make the amounts more clear, I will talk about fluoride concentration in parts per million in this article.

You can get a better perspective on PPM in the following article: How Much Fluoride Is in a PPM (Part per million)?

How Much Fluoride is In Various Dental Products?

1 PPM: Tap Water. Since the dental community has worked so hard to get fluoride in the public water supply to help prevent cavities, I figured I would add water into this list. The concentration goes up to 3 PPM if you boil that water in a Teflon-coated pot or pan. 226 PPM: Fluoride Mouth Wash. 226 PPM is the maximum allowable fluoride concentration available in over the counter fluoride mouthwashes (0.05% NaF), such as ACT Restoring Mouthwash. 910 PPM: Prescription Fluoride Mouthwash. 910 PPM is an acceptable concentration for prescription-strength fluoride mouthwash. Some prescription fluoride mouthwashes that contain stannous fluoride have a concentration of 970 PPM. 1500 PPM: Toothpaste. Most toothpastes are now at 1500 PPM of fluoride. The number has gradually increased over time. In the 1990’s most toothpaste in the United States had only 1000 PPM of fluoride. If you don’t want to spend the money on fluoride mouthwash, you can get the same cavity-fighting effect by simply brushing longer so that the toothpaste remains in contact with your teeth for more time. 12,300 PPM: Fluoride Gel. Remember the strawberry/orange/mint-flavored gel that your dentist gave you when you were a kid? The reason that it helps your teeth is because it contains so much fluoride — it’s made up of 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride. 19,300 PPM: Alginate Impression Material. Unexpectedly, that pasty stuff that dentists use to take impressions of your teeth contains a lot of fluoride! This study evaluated eight types of alginate and listed the PPM of each. I took the average to come up with 19,300 PPM. Another study has also looked at the fluoride concentrations in alginate impression material and came up with similar results. Don’t worry about getting too much fluoride though, since most of it stays locked up inside the impression material. 19,400 PPM: Stannous Fluoride Topical Solution. Although this isn’t used as much as the fluoride gels and varnishes, some dentists do apply topical stannous fluoride to their patients. 22,600 PPM: Fluoride Varnish. Fluoride varnish is painted on your teeth, similarly to how nail polish is painted on your nails. We usually use this to help combat tooth sensitivity. Fluoride varnish can also be used in children rather than the gels since it is easier for kids to swallow lots of the gel than it is for them to swallow a lot of the fluoride varnish.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot of fluoride in many of the dental products that are out there. Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the amount of fluoride in dental products? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!

A Full List of Dental Products with the ADA Seal

Dentistry

Mar 11, 2011

Products with American Dental Association Seal — ©Natalia Gaak NWH/Shutterstock.com

Not many people are aware that the American Dental Association keeps an updated list on their website of all of the dental products that have received the ADA Seal of Acceptance.

You can view and print the entire list of ADA Accepted dental products here in PDF format.

When people think of the ADA Seal, the first product category to come to mind is usually toothpastes. However, the toothpaste category came in second place. There are more than twice as many mouth rinses than toothpastes that carry the ADA Seal.

Below you can find a list of all the categories and how many products in each category have received the ADA Seal of Acceptance.

The 15 Categories of Dental Products that carry the ADA Seal

1 – Mouth Rinses. 143 different brands of mouthwash qualified for the ADA Seal.

2 – Toothpastes. 65 toothpastes currently carry the ADA Seal.

3 – Fluoride Mouth Rinses. 44 brands of fluoride mouthwashes qualified for the ADA Seal.

4 – Toothbrushes. 34 different toothbrushes received the ADA Seal.

5 – Floss. 30 different brands of floss qualified for the ADA Seal.

Even if you’re using ADA approved floss, you can still make these 10 mistakes when you floss.

6 – Chewing Gum. 5 different brands of chewing gums qualified for the ADA Seal.

7 – Fluoride Gels. 4 brands of fluoride gel qualified for the ADA Seal.

8 – Denture Adhesives. 3 denture adhesives qualified for the ADA Seal.

9 – Water Filters. 2 water filters carry the ADA Seal of Acceptance. I wondered why a water filter would get the ADA Seal. It turns out that the PUR water filters reduce levels of contaminants in water while not reducing the level of tooth-protecting fluoride.

10 – Canker Sore Pain Relief Ointments. 2 canker sore pain relief ointments qualified for the ADA Seal.

11 – Plaque Disclosing Mouth Rinses. Only 1 plaque disclosing mouth rinse, Listerine Agent Cool Blue Tinting Rinse, qualified for the ADA Seal. Unfortunately, I don’t think it was deserved as Listerine Agent Cool Blue does not disclose plaque; it simply tints all of the teeth blue.

To see what my teeth looked like after rinsing with Listerine Agent Cool Blue, read the article Listerine Agent Cool Blue Doesn’t Disclose Plaque. If you want to find plaque disclosing solutions that actually show you where the plaque is on your teeth, read the article How Plaque Disclosing Tablets Can Help You Brush Better.

12 – Denture Pain Relief Ointment. Only 1 denture pain relief ointment, Benzodent Analgesic Denture Ointment, qualified for the ADA Seal.

13 – Emergency Tooth Preservation Products. Only one product got the ADA Seal in this category, Save-A-Tooth.

To learn more about how to use the Save-A-Tooth System, read the article What to Do When Your Permanent Tooth Gets Knocked Out.

14 – Interdental Cleaners. Only one brand of interdental cleaners, Stim-U-Dent Plaque Removers, qualified for the ADA Seal.

15 – Dentist-Dispensed Teeth Whitening Gels. Only 1 brand of teeth whitening gel, Opalescence Whitening Gel 10%, qualified for the ADA Seal of Acceptance.

Does the ADA Seal Mean Everything?

As I stated above, there are many great plaque disclosing tablets/solutions that don’t have the ADA Seal while the one that does only tints your teeth without showing you where the plaque is!

Usually the ADA Seal indicates that a product actually does what it is supposed to do (is effective) and is safe. You can read more about the ADA Seal in this previous article: The ADA Seal of Acceptance: Everything You Need to Know.

Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the ADA Seal or products that have received it? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!