For my past several dental visits, I’ve been told that my upper gums are inflamed. The dentist thought it was due to either plaque or breathing with my mouth open, and was probably aggravated by hormone levels (which were up due to being pregnant and nursing). I am now flossing twice a day, brushing after every meal and before bed, and still one side of my gums in inflamed. The dentist suggested mouthwash, but I told her I wasn’t comfortable with all the artificial flavorings, colorings, and sweeteners in traditional mouthwashes. She told me some interesting things.
The active ingredients in mouthwash are usually essential oils and menthol. Alcohol is actually a preservative. So I went to the store and found that Tom’s of Maine makes mouthwashes with menthol and peppermint/spearmint oils, but without the alcohol, artificial flavors, sweeteners, or colors. It also contains witch hazel and aloe vera. I really like it!
I told her that I had occasionally been using hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash, diluted with water, and was considering using it more frequently. It kills germs and costs very little. It doesn’t taste very good, but I spit it out, rinse with water, and then brush my teeth. I like how clean and smooth my teeth feel afterwards. The dentist said an added bonus of using hydrogen peroxide is that it would whiten my teeth.
So you don’t have to use Listerine if you like using a mouthwash. There are several more natural options available!
Posted by Andrea on May 27, 2009 at 4:58 am
This is interesting, Sophia.
A really close childhood friend of mine has a sister that works at Toms of Maine. We like their soap
Posted by April on May 27, 2009 at 11:17 pm
We’ve been using peroxide for awhile in place of traditional mouthwash. I have a new dentist and when I told him that I use it he looked at me strangely and said he wasn’t sure he’d recommend that. I’m glad to hear your dentist seemed to think differently. We’ve actually found a lot of great uses for peroxide and it’s so cheap!
Posted by jimmy on May 29, 2009 at 1:07 am
Thanks for the post – I use Tom’s of Maine and love it, both the toothpaste and mouthwash – but it is very pricy. I’ll try hydrogen peroxide for sure to save $$!