Maintaining and cleaning your teeth is a necessity. When you do not frequently clean them, you might get bad breath. Maybe you don’t notice your bad breath, but people around you may be dying to tell you. That unpleasant taste you have in your mouth? It comes from bacteria that grow in your mouth and under your teeth [1].
These are several reasons why you can’t just use mouthwash to protect your teeth:
Mouthwash will not fix bad breath
Many people use mouthwash because they believe it will freshen their breath. However, if you do not brush and floss, mouthwash is like applying perfume in a stinky bathroom.
To stop bad breath, ditch your mouthwash and, instead, brush and floss your teeth and tongue at least once daily. Drink plenty of water to help your bacteria-regulating saliva work.
Nor should mouthwash replace brushing
Many people find themselves overwhelmed and fail to brush their teeth. They also wonder if using a mouthwash during these busy times would be an appropriate replacement.
Bacteria won’t just wash away after every rinse. After brushing, the teeth quickly develop bacteria, which multiply really quickly! Over time, this transforms into a thick plaque layer which mouthwash can not break apart. It can only be removed by brushing.
Even alcoholic mouthwashes can do more harm than good.
Alchohol-based mouthwashes are troublesome because it dries your mouth! If you use alcohol mouthwash, you can get a really dry mouth and dry, cracking lips [2]. While alcohol-based mouthwash will briefly cover bad breath, they are not a permanent solution.
Any mouthwash pretending to be "antibacterial" or "antiseptic" is a terrible idea.
Mouthwash that claims to destroy bacteria do so by indiscriminately killing all of them. However, only a handful of the bacteria in your mouth are harmful. Other bacteria form part of the first line of protection against pathogens in your body.
When all of the bacteria in your mouth are destroyed, you leave a hole in your body’s defences so something else will come along and fill it. There are moments when this indiscriminate washing is useful, say when a wound is disinfected. But as part of normal daily hygiene, it is not the right option.
Dangerous to kids
Your child might drink your mouthwash by accident. Variants of mouthwashes with alcohol can affect your child negatively. Go for a mouthwash containing no alcohol if you have children.
Conclusion
Practice proper oral hygiene including brushing, frequent flossing, and monthly dental appointments [3]. So just stick to brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day for about 2 minutes to help keep your teeth and mouth healthy.
