I have here a bottle of orange-flavoured mouthwash, which is supposedly milder than the minty kind. It’s still pretty damn minty. It’s hard to gargle for the full 30 seconds. Does this stuff really need to hurt to work, or is it just one of those things where people associate pain with cleanliness and won’t buy mouthwash unless it leaves them feeling like they’ve just gargled with paint stripper?
You get used to it pretty quickly. When I first started using Listerine, I struggled to get over 15 seconds. Now a minute or so is nothing, and any other mouthwash seems tame in comparison. Personally I think you hit it with the “pain=good” idea.
Well, the first question out of my mouth is, “What brand is it?”
If it feels like you’re gargling with paint stripper, that would be a signal to me, personally, that maybe I should try another brand. Do they all do that to you?
I’m using the Wal-Mart Equate generic brand, “mint” flavor (the Listerine equivalent, with thymol), and it doesn’t hurt. Maybe you just have ultra-sensitive mucous membranes?
In the immortal words of Dr. Bronner: Dilute! Dilute!
Agree with DDG – mouthwash doesn’t hurt everyone. In fact, I dare say it hurts almost no one. That’s not meant pejoratively towards the OP, as I understand that this likely one of those strange physiological quirks that a person can’t help.
Beware of Doug’s idea is worth a shot.
The new Crest stuff, which they appear to call a “Pro-Health Rinse” rather than just plain “mouthwash”, doesn’t burn a bit. They claim it’s as effective as Listerine. It does seem to foam a lot while you’re swishing it around, though.
Well, to answer your questions, I’ve tried both Listerine and generic supermarket mouthwash. I don’t feel anything at first but after 10-20 seconds its starts to seriously taste like burning. I don’t feel like I have ultra-sensitive membranes since I have no problems with ultra-minty toothpaste. How do most people find the mintyness of mouthwash in relation to toothpaste, and if I dilute it will it still work properly?
I dunno, there.
Scope (I believe) is currently running a commercial about how better you’ll feel if you can keep the whole 30 second going. It’s got face shots of people contorting their faces as they get through the process.
That tells me that, as far as that product is concerned, there’s at least a perception that using mouthwash is a painful and uncomfortable trial.
Um. I haven’t seen that commercial (being in the wrong country) but I contort my face as well. But that’s just to get the mouthwash everywhere in my mouth.
And I’ve yet to go for a whole 30 seconds. Cause it’s boooooring.
Holy shit, really? :eek: Wow, thats a major mystery solved for me. I remember dutifully mouthwashing as a kid and wondering how could people stand this stuff. By the end of 30 seconds, a visit to the dentist almost seemed preferably to mouthwashing every day.
1st comment - For me, it’s gotten better as time goes along. I no longer feel burn while I rinse, but I’ve been doing it dutifully for a few years.
2nd - If you chill it a bit, it won’t burn as much, either. It’ll depend on how sensitive your teeth are on how cold you can get it.
Hmm. So what makes mouthwash minty? Do they put excessive amounts of mint flavouring in it or does it actually have something to do with the active ingredient?
I thought the burning sensation was a result of the alcohol content, which is the main active ingredient wrt bacteria control. The mint is largely for esthetics (it smells better than raw alcohol).
I went upstairs and looked at my big bottle of Equate, and in the list of ingredients, after the teeny percentage amounts of “active ingredient” things like thymol and eucalyptus and menthol, it lists “water” and “alcohol 21.6%”. So I’d guess that yeah, you’re feeling the burn from something that’s basically 43 proof alcohol.
Poking around on Google under “43 proof liquor” (it’s Saturday morning, I have nothing better to do), I discovered this fascinating puff piece on Taiwanese wineries.
And now, if you will excuse me, I must go and Google further to find out whether they sell “CheCheng Station Manager” wine in the U.S.
I guess I’m one who likes the pain, or at least at some level associates it with the stuff doing its job. Unless it feels like I’m going to be spitting out chunks of dissolved tooth afterwards, I don’t want it.
I tried that Crest stuff and it left me with the most horrible aftertaste for a couple of hours. Ick. I’ll stick to my knock-off Listerine if I want to use mouthwash.
I spat out a bunch of chunks after using the Crest stuff. I read the bottle afterwards and it told me to rinse with water first, and so I tried that next time, and voila! More white chunks. Alls that the stupid little sample bottle did for me is make me not want to ever go buy their product.
Try Biotene mouthwash.
It’s as mild as some else’s spit. :eek:
That’s so right. I used it after getting a piercing, since they claimed that the alcohol in normal mouthwash would irritate the piercing.
The stuff is exactly like taking a swig of mint-flavored spit. It has that consistency - I felt like someone had eaten a candycane and I had a mouthful of their drool. It was so disgusting that I never used it again.
I suspect the pain is there because of the additional ingredients, not the alcohol, since 43-proof spirits wouldn’t feel anywhere near as nuketastic in the mouth. Listerine hurts because those who use it want their mouths cleaned spiritually as well as physically. It’s about being cleansed through suffering.
Not everyone experiences mouthwash this way, though.
While we’re in here – just what proportion of people actually feel pain from mouthwash? Can we ahzard a guess?