About

A very important part to your overall dental hygiene health, that many people fail to do, is rinsing with mouthwash. Although good brushing and flossing habits set the tone for good dental hygiene, the cherry on top is rinsing with mouthwash. Mouthwash is dominant when it comes to killing germs and bacteria that may have been missed in your mouth while merely brushing and flossing. Mouthwash gets into cracks and crevices that may be invisible to the human eye, or missed by the brush and floss.

So, why don’t people use mouthwash regularly?
One of the things that turns people off to mouthwash is how insignificant it may feel. What good can swishing some liquid around in your mouth for 30 seconds really do? We skip this step because it feels like a waste of time, and based on the type you’re using it can really burn. The other reasoning is that some mouthwashes don’t burn and they actually taste like you’re swishing kool-aid around. What good could swishing kool-aid around do? If you’re like me, it can’t do much good at all.

The truth

Although there are many reasons why people don’t use mouthwash regularly, the truth is everyone should. Mouthwash is relatively inexpensive for the amount of good it can do in your mouth. I think of mouthwash as a poor man’s dental hygienist. A dental hygienist gets into the hard to reach areas. They clean out the areas that aren’t frequented with a brush or flossing string. They are your “second eye”. Although mouthwash is not going to do near the job in 30 seconds that your dental hygienist will be able to do in 45 minutes, it is a good alternative in the months between cleaning appointments.

Added benefits

If you’re like me, mouthwash can be even more beneficial to you than just killing germs and bacteria. I was diagnosed with a condition called “lichen planus”. This condition involves cells in your mouth fighting each other and causing big sores that burn and are very irritated by any kind of contact. I spent 6 years fighting this condition before I finally found a remedy for the flare ups. This remedy is, you guessed it, listerine mouthwash. Listerine is packed with alcohol that gives a burning sensation to most people. For me, it’s like setting my mouth on fire. Which is exactly why it numbs and completely rids the pain I have from my lichen planus.