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acids on the teeth and beware mouthwashes
Friday, December 10th, 2021 03:11 amThirteen Acidic Fruits And How They Affect Your Teeth
Wow, grapes are as acidic as grapefruit. Maybe that is why my teeth and gums were irritated this week, after me eating green grapes that I had bought.
.
My teeth have erosion along the gumline.
For a while in the past, I used a Tom's of Maine (brand) children's anticavity fluoride mouth rinse ("Silly Strawberry" flavor) after brushing my teeth in the evening, hoping that would help fortify my tooth enamel and make my teeth less sensitive. I think I mixed the mouth rinse half and half with water to cut down on the sweetness, but other than that the flavor was nice.
After using that bottle up, I tried a different brand - TheraBreath for Kids "Anti Cavity Oral Rinse", "Gorilla Grape" flavor. OMG, that one was WAY sweeter than the other one. Even cut down with water, it was still very sweet. So I never used much of that bottle.
Both brands are sweetened with xylitol which is good for your teeth. But still, I don't like a sweet taste in my mouth when I go to bed, and rinsing out the mouth rinse with water negates some of the benefit of the fluoride. (Yes, I know many people think fluoride is actually bad for you, but considering that I've only had one cavity so far in my life, I'm still of the opinion that it works well for me.)
So this year I bought another bottle of the Tom's of Maine rinse. But I was surprised to see from its ingredient list that it contains actual fruit juices (strawberry, pineapple, orange, lemon, mango) rather than (or in addition to) fruit flavor. All those fruits are acidic, and I was surprised that any company would put acids into a mouth rinse, when acid is bad for teeth. Then I saw that the TheraBreath includes citric acid in its ingredients too.
I wondered if the amount of juice and acid was low enough not to make much impact, or if other ingredients in the mouth rinses counteracted the acidity of the juice.
I tested the Tom's mouth rinse by pouring a small amount of it into a glass and adding baking soda. It fizzed! I tried the same thing with the TheraBreath and Qiao's old Listerine. They all got somewhat cloudy when the baking soda dropped in. But the TheraBreath and Listerine did not fizz. Only Tom's of Maine produced visible bubbles.
Acidic Mouthwashes Are Eroding Your Teeth - lists the pH of various popular mouthwashes. Per this list, Tom's of Maine is the worst, but Listerine isn't good either.
The erosive effects of some mouthrinses on enamel
Mouthwash Is Bad For You: 4 Better Alternatives
Wow, grapes are as acidic as grapefruit. Maybe that is why my teeth and gums were irritated this week, after me eating green grapes that I had bought.
.
My teeth have erosion along the gumline.
For a while in the past, I used a Tom's of Maine (brand) children's anticavity fluoride mouth rinse ("Silly Strawberry" flavor) after brushing my teeth in the evening, hoping that would help fortify my tooth enamel and make my teeth less sensitive. I think I mixed the mouth rinse half and half with water to cut down on the sweetness, but other than that the flavor was nice.
After using that bottle up, I tried a different brand - TheraBreath for Kids "Anti Cavity Oral Rinse", "Gorilla Grape" flavor. OMG, that one was WAY sweeter than the other one. Even cut down with water, it was still very sweet. So I never used much of that bottle.
Both brands are sweetened with xylitol which is good for your teeth. But still, I don't like a sweet taste in my mouth when I go to bed, and rinsing out the mouth rinse with water negates some of the benefit of the fluoride. (Yes, I know many people think fluoride is actually bad for you, but considering that I've only had one cavity so far in my life, I'm still of the opinion that it works well for me.)
So this year I bought another bottle of the Tom's of Maine rinse. But I was surprised to see from its ingredient list that it contains actual fruit juices (strawberry, pineapple, orange, lemon, mango) rather than (or in addition to) fruit flavor. All those fruits are acidic, and I was surprised that any company would put acids into a mouth rinse, when acid is bad for teeth. Then I saw that the TheraBreath includes citric acid in its ingredients too.
I wondered if the amount of juice and acid was low enough not to make much impact, or if other ingredients in the mouth rinses counteracted the acidity of the juice.
I tested the Tom's mouth rinse by pouring a small amount of it into a glass and adding baking soda. It fizzed! I tried the same thing with the TheraBreath and Qiao's old Listerine. They all got somewhat cloudy when the baking soda dropped in. But the TheraBreath and Listerine did not fizz. Only Tom's of Maine produced visible bubbles.
Acidic Mouthwashes Are Eroding Your Teeth - lists the pH of various popular mouthwashes. Per this list, Tom's of Maine is the worst, but Listerine isn't good either.
The erosive effects of some mouthrinses on enamel
Mouthwash Is Bad For You: 4 Better Alternatives