One dentist I asked said mouthwash "kills germs" but said it didn't reduce cavities. This did not make sense to me. If by "germs" they mean s. mutans, then cavities should be reduced by the use of mouthwash, right? According to one study: Rinsing with 20 ml of Listerine Antiseptic for 30 seconds twice per day for 11 days produced respective reductions of 69.9% and 75.4% in total recoverable streptococci and in S. mutans in plaque, and corresponding reductions of 50.8% and 39.2% in saliva. The drug company, Pfizer, has been told by a federal judge that their advertising which claims Listerine is just as effective at fighting plaque and gingivitis as the use of dental floss is misleading. McNeil-PPC, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, sued Pfizer saying the ads were a threat to dental floss sales. Recommendation: Use both mouthwash and floss. My choice for floss is Eco-dent with essential oils found in mouthwash. The active ingredients of Listerine are called essential oils and they include Thymol 0.064% (kills fungus 47), Eucalypol 0.092%, Methyl Salicylate 0.060% and Menthol 0.042%. Tests at Weber State University by Dr. Gary Young found certain essential oils kill 99.96% of airborne bacteria, although some say Young's knowledge of basic science is lacking. For a while I was using Biotene mouthwash. I previously used Listerine mouthwash daily and I still had high counts, however.
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