Not all mouthwashes are created equal. Some have ingredients that may be damaging your teeth without you knowing it. That’s why it is important to read the label and find out what’s in your mouthwash bottle before swishing.
Beware of Alcohol
One ingredient found in most mouthwashes is alcohol. This is a common ingredient because it acts as a carrier agent for other ingredients (such as menthol and thymol) allowing it to have bacteriostatic (bad bacteria killing) and bacteriostatic (arresting the progression of bad bacteria) properties. Using such kind of product is of course, good. However, long term use of alcohol-based mouthwash or rinses does carry serious potential health risks.
What Alcohol Does
Suppresses Saliva Production
Saliva production is essential for keeping a healthy balance of the good and bad bacteria in our mouths. However, mouthwashes with alcohol, when used over a long period and too frequently, suppresses of saliva production. This causes dry mouth and slowly strips away your mucous shield.
This also compromises the natural buffering capacity of your mouth to fight off harsh chemicals (like acids and sugar) from the food that we eat and liquids. It also causes imbalance in our healthy oral flora, which may result to a number of unwanted complications.
It is saliva creates a buffer between the acids and the sugar in what you eat and drink and your teeth, thus the suppression of saliva production increases the vulnerability of your teeth to acid damage causing them to soften and become more susceptible to decay and increase the build-up of bacterial plaque over time.
Causes Burning Mouth Syndrome
When your mucous shield is down, you may develop uncomfortably dry mouth or a Burning Mouth Syndrome. This will cause your teeth to stain more easily from colored liquids like red wine, soda, coffee or tea drinking. It also causes root exposure, which will make your teeth more sensitive to cold water or air.
Causes Teeth Erosion and Enamel Loss
Aside from alcohol, studies also show that commercially available mouthwashes have low PH level or are highly acidic with acid levels that are almost the same as your household vinegar. This compounds the deleterious effect of the alcohol in your mouthwash by hastening the erosion of your tooth enamel.
Enamel loss increases tooth sensitivity to hot or cold which is also already an effect of the alcohol in your mouthwash. Thus, it’s not advisable to use a mouthwash before you brush as the enamel of your teeth may more prone to damage by your vigorous brushing. Also do use soft bristle brush and floss after brushing.
What You Can Do
The next time you plan to grab a mouthwash, read the label first. Avoid ones that contain alcohol and those with a low PH level. Better yet, switch to an alcohol-free mouthwash that’s also alkaline. If it’s immediate fresh breath you want, grab a sugar-free gum with xylitol. It works like a mouthwash without the damaging effects to your teeth.