With the fast-paced kind of living that most of us have, there are times of the day that we find it inconvenient to brush our teeth, instead we use conventional mouthwash to prevent and bad breath and tooth cavity. And many wonder if this is okay- that if using conventional mouthwash as a substitute for brushing is okay and if it is true that conventional mouthwash does cure bad breath. In this article, we will provide you with a clear explanation.
Tooth Brushing and Use of Conventional Mouthwash
Brushing teeth after every meal is really important to keep the teeth free of food residue which, if not removed, can cause bad breath and worse, tooth cavities & other conditions. When you brush your teeth, not only you are freeing yourself of bad breath, but also you prevent having gum disease, which is one of the leading causes of tooth loss in adults and has been linked to heart attacks and strokes.
Years ago, people only brushed their teeth, the use of mouthwash wasn’t really that popular. As more and more people realize the benefits of using mouthwash, it became a part of our oral hygiene regimen.
Benefits of conventional mouthwash
The use of conventional mouthwash after brushing the teeth maximizes the chance that your mouth is free of bad breath causing bacteria. Mouthwash works better than brushing as it can reach the hard-to-reach places in the mouth. Swishing it around in the mouth foe a minute or so helps clean in between the teeth and in the gum area, coating and cleaning everything and killing any traces of bacteria. An average conventional mouthwash contains alcohol which does a great job killing the microorganisms that feast on the teeth and left over food residue.
Conventional mouthwash amplifies bad breath
Even with all the benefits above, alcohol-based mouthwashes will actually amplify the bad breath in the long term while giving you instant gratification and great fresh feeling when you just use it. Alcohol being one of the main ingredients will dry out your mouth very quickly and the minty freshness will last only minutes. Sad fact is that this mouthwash will never make it deep enough to the back of your mouth to affect the main cause of bad breath, it will only dry out your mouth and make all that smelly odor come out to play minutes after the minty flavor wears out on your tongue. As you know, dry mouth is a stinky mouth.
This is why you want to use only alcohol-free mouthwash and drink plenty of water to keep the mouth moist at all times.