Alcohol in mouth wash

Hi,
Many years ago i was told not to use Listerine, think that is the right spelling, because it contained alcohol. On checking on the label found this to be correct. The trouble with alcohol is that it softens the tooth enamel. I have been telling people about this, thinking i was helping them. I mainly got laughed at. The wife also laughed at this. We were both watching a Thai chat show a couple of days ago. The only words i could pick out were List. and teeth. The wife turned around to me and said i was correct in what i told her about List. years ago. They where saying on the program that the alcohol in List. is bad for your teeth. Thank god she seen this prog. as she would insist on buying the stuff. I always bought the colgates stuff. Her mind has changed now, and she said sorry for not believing me. She thought i was joking.
Found this out many years ago, when my daughter married a dentist.
Cheers Doug.

As with all anti-bacterial stuff (including anti-biotics) it kills all the bacteria.

There are good and bad bacteria and your body needs good bacteria in order to function.

Simply put: without bacteria you will die.

What Listerine does:
You may have a bad breath because you have too many bad bacteria in your mouth, then Listerine will kill the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria, the result will be that the balance in your mouth is more disturbed than it was before you started using Listerine. So, after a while you will have a bad breath again, and ... you feel like you have to keep using Listerine, again and again. In the end it doesn't work at all, because you never give the inside of your mouth the chance to restore its normal balance.

Hi,
I know it most likely does all this. The main point is List. contains achohol, which is bad for your tooth enamel, as well as the germs. Just pointing out that instead of using something that contains achohol, use a mouthwash, if you must, that does not contain it. At least it eliminates one of the very bad side effects. This is also what the T.V. Prog. was on about. I thought i would just pass it on to people.
To be padantic, i cannot see it killing all the bacteria in your body. You only use it to rinse your mouth out, and do not swallow it. I am over 70 now and so far, touch wood, it has not killed me. And i have been using a mouthwash for a long long time, not list. though.

douglas wrote:To be padantic, i cannot see it killing all the bacteria in your body. You only use it to rinse your mouth out, and do not swallow it.

Ok, I think you misundersood. I didn't argue against your statement, just added some info. I meant that it kills all bacteria in your mouth, and therefore disturbes the natural balance in your mouth further.

Skin and mucous membrane contain and need good bacteria to keep its natural balance and pH level. Cleaning-alcohol kills everything. Yes,it may take away your bad breath for a short while, but doesn't restore or heal anything. Without good bacteria to outnumber the bad bacteria, the bad bacteria will come back soon enough, and your bad breath will soon be back again.

Bad breath is the result of something. Alcohol containing mouthwash won't take away the cause of it. It does more damage than good.