Listerine Total Care Anti-Cavity Mouthwash: Is it Safe and Should You Use It?

Americans are obsessed with dental care. All you need to do is watch the first Austin Powers movie and you can figure that out for yourself. It's astounding how many products are on the market to make your teeth whiter and stronger and your breath fresher and cleaner. Listerine has just debuted a new oral care rinse called Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash. It claims six different dental care benefits:

Helps prevent cavities

Restores enamel

Strengthens teeth

Freshens breath

Kills bad breath germs

Fights plaque above gum line

With all those benefits, you wonder if you even need to go to the dentist anymore! The other day, my cousin was telling me about this new Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash she started using. I asked her what she thought about it. She said "it feels like your gums are gonna explode." With my curiosity peaked, I decided to give it a swish.

Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash: My experience

After taking a cap full of Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash, I started the one minute swishing process. Within 20 seconds, my gums truly felt like they were going to explode! I suffered through the next 40 seconds before I relieve my agony and spit it out. For about 10 minutes after swishing, my mouth felt like it was recovering from a Novocaine shot.

Did my mouth feel a bit fresher after using Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash? Well, yes it did. But it did so after an uncomfortable 11 minutes of swishing and recovering. To do a true product review, I would need to use this product for at least 1-2 weeks to see if in fact my teeth, gums, and breath all improved after use. But something still bothered me about all this. Should something that's supposed to be so good for you taste and feel this bad?

Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash: Is it safe to use?

I did some research on the web to see what ingredients were inListerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash.The active ingredient in this product is sodium fluoride. According to the Cosmetics Database, sodium fluoride has a rather high toxicity level. Studies have shown sodium fluoride has a negative on your brain and nervous system even in low doses. This ingredient has restricted use in Canada and the European Union classifies it as "toxic." In addition to this sodium fluoride, Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwashalso contains sodium laurel sulfate, a foaming additive with a corrosive nature. You can read about sodium laurel sulfate in my article here on AC.

So, do I recommend using Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash? I'm gonna have to say no based on my experience and research. I can't say for certain if the ingredients in Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash caused the 'exploding gums' feeling. But combine the two and I'm not keen on Listerine Total Care Anti-cavity Mouthwash.You can consult the Cosmetics Database for other mouthwashes with more natural and safer ingredients.

Source:

Personal experience

http://www.listerine.com/product-total-care.jsp

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=706065&refurl=%2Fproduct.php%3Fprod_id%3D140259%26