# Does mouthwash really need to be so nuketastic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235 "2005-10-21T09:51:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/21 "2005-10-23T08:23:49Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > 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. I’ve seen that one. You’re misinterpreting what’s going on in the commercial based on your personal experience. **Naita** is correct – the actors are merely depicting vigorous, deliberate movement of the mouthwash within the mouth. No pain is meant to be implied. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/22 "2005-10-23T09:48:29Z")
I’m another “it all feels like paint stripper.” I use whatever we have in the house. (Since I buy it, I can’t complain much.) It never gets better. I use regular Pepsodent tooth paste because its supposed to the mildest, but it still feels like I’ve picked up a tube a drain cleaner ( I KNOW it doesn’t come in a tube.) I have trouble eating some fruits for the same reason. I guess some of us are just more delicate that the rest of you iron folk. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/23 "2005-10-23T16:48:20Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I’ve seen that one. You’re misinterpreting what’s going on in the commercial based on your personal experience. **Naita** is correct – the actors are merely depicting vigorous, deliberate movement of the mouthwash within the mouth. No pain is meant to be implied. There are clearly Listerine commercials designed around the concept that they hurt: there’s one showing a dude swishing with it, with clear grimaces of pain, and the voiceover talks about how it’s pretty “intense” but “you can do it”. And there’s another where a woman brings home a bottle of Listerine, and her family hides, until she tells them it’s new Natural Citrus Listerine, which is “less intense”. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/24 "2005-10-23T16:54:45Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > In the immortal words of [Dr. Bronner](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_386.html): **Dilute! Dilute!** I believe the full quote was “Don’t Drink Soap! Flush Eye With Water! Dilute! Dilute! OK!” ---
**Author:** ![bzwilak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@bzwilak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bzwilak)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/25 "2005-10-23T20:34:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Does mouthwash really need to be so nuketastic? Yes! I prefer nuketastic. I wouldn’t have it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/26 "2005-10-23T20:59:42Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > 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. That’s 43%, which would be approximately 90 proof. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/27 "2005-10-24T00:18:54Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > That’s 43%, which would be approximately 90 proof. _My_ bottle is not 43% alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/28 "2005-10-24T00:42:24Z")
Well I’ve never used mouthwash myself, but I did briefly have to use [Peridex](http://www.zila.com/pages/zila_prof_pharm/prod_promos/peridex_index.shtml). My dentist prescribed it after I had a gingivectomy (cosmetic procedure to remove excess gum). I used it three times a day for about two weeks, to prevent infection. I understood from reading the insert that came with the bottle that it’s mostly used to treat gingivitis. I first time I used the Peridex it still like _HELL_. After a day or two it was just annoying (and my gums had begun to heal). After two weeks (gums fully healed) I couldn’t feel it at all - just felt like swishing a carbonated drink around my mouth. So WAG (and IANADentist), maybe some people who are “sensitive” to mouthwash just have a bit of gingivitis? Apparently it’s a really common problem, and not necessarily due to poor teeth-brushing or dental hygiene. According to [The Mayo Clinic](http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=DS00363): > [@](#): > > If your gums are swollen, tender and bleed easily when you brush your teeth, you’re not alone — nearly 80 percent of American adults have some form of gum (periodontal) disease. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/29 "2005-10-24T00:44:01Z")
Of course, it STUNG like hell. > [@Waenara](#): > > I first time I used the Peridex it still like _HELL_. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/30 "2005-10-24T01:14:01Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > That’s 43%, which would be approximately 90 proof. “Proof” is calculated, as I see you know, by muliplying the alcohol percentage by 2. Hence, 21.5% alcohol = 43 proof. (I can remember, many years ago, trying to explain the formula to some fool who claimed to have once consumed some 500 proof booze.) ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/31 "2005-10-24T01:47:27Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > So WAG (and IANADentist), maybe some people who are “sensitive” to mouthwash just have a bit of gingivitis? Apparently it’s a really common problem, and not necessarily due to poor teeth-brushing or dental hygiene. I can’t speak for everyone, but I have a very difficult time handling mouthwash. My gums don’t hurt, but the inside of my cheeks burn as well as my tongue. For the sake of science, I went and used mouthwash just now to check – absolutely no gum pain. Cheeks first, then tongue. I can’t drink straight scotch or high proof liquors without the same sensation. I wager, it’s just the alcohol content. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/32 "2005-10-24T03:36:59Z")
I use Listerine. I also drink Scotch whisky straight by preference, or with a big ball of chipped ice instead of smaller cubes that would dilute the dram. I know what alcohol burn feels like. Listerine burns me more than whisky that has twice the alcohol content, even if I swish the whisky around in my mouth. While alcohol is undoubtedly part of the equation, I’m betting that it’s the other ingredients like the eucalyptus that cause part of the burn. I’m not sure that mouthwash **has** to be painful to work, but alcohol is a cheap and easy way to disinfect things. There are now other formulations that seem to work well and that have low or no alcohol. I don’t know of any studies that rank the effectiveness of mouthwashes, though, so I don’t know if they work better than the ones that depend on alcohol, like Listerine and Scope, or not. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/33 "2005-10-24T03:42:11Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > 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? Same with me. I can’t gargle with any of them for more than about 15 seconds before it becomes too painful. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/34 "2005-10-24T08:25:26Z")
Well, I got impatient with all the speculation and decided to do some experimenting. My bottle of citrus-flavoured Listerine is about 22% ethanol. I didn’t have any ethanol lying around so I improvised and made up a roughly 25% solution of isopropanol and gargled with it. I felt the burn as soon as the stuff hit my tongue. It certainly felt like mouthwash-burn so I suspect I’m experiencing alcohol-burn and not mint-burn. As for the eucalyptus, I dunno. My dad works in a lab so I might convince him to steal some ethanol for me (I only need about a capful) so I can make an ethanol/water only solution and see how that feels compared to mouthwash (when they say 22% ethanol, is that by weight or volume?). I also have a bottle of eucalyptus oil lying around somewhere… good God, the things I do for science e\_e PS - Isopropanol tastes like ASS. I washed out my mouth but the taste won’t go awaaaaay. And strangely enough, my mouth now tastes slightly of starfruit. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/35 "2005-10-24T10:19:05Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > Well, I got impatient with all the speculation and decided to do some experimenting. My bottle of citrus-flavoured Listerine is about 22% ethanol. I didn’t have any ethanol lying around so I improvised and made up a roughly 25% solution of isopropanol and gargled with it. I felt the burn as soon as the stuff hit my tongue. It certainly felt like mouthwash-burn so I suspect I’m experiencing alcohol-burn and not mint-burn. As for the eucalyptus, I dunno. My dad works in a lab so I might convince him to steal some ethanol for me (I only need about a capful) so I can make an ethanol/water only solution and see how that feels compared to mouthwash (when they say 22% ethanol, is that by weight or volume?). I also have a bottle of eucalyptus oil lying around somewhere… good God, the things I do for science e\_e > > PS - Isopropanol tastes like ASS. I washed out my mouth but the taste won’t go awaaaaay. And strangely enough, my mouth now tastes slightly of starfruit. 22% by weight. Ethanol is 90% the density of water so a 1:3 ratio volumewise would be about right. BTW: The starfruit taste comes from the esterification of the alcohols by the saliva in your mouth. [esterification](http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/alcohols/esterification.html) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/36 "2005-10-24T10:47:54Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > 22% by weight. Ethanol is 90% the density of water so a 1:3 ratio volumewise would be about right. > > BTW: The starfruit taste comes from the esterification of the alcohols by the saliva in your mouth. [esterification](http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/alcohols/esterification.html) Hmm, it appears my “isopropanol” was ethanol after all. I guess my mum switched alcohols without telling me (for disinfecting, not drinking :eek: ). And my Listerine is 22% alcohol by _volume_, as it says on the freaking label :smack: Each mL contains 0.22mL ethanol and I guess I converted the .22mL to 22% without thinking. :wally And my eucalyptus oil claims to be 100% cineole. I guess that’ll make for easy calculations. And esterification! I had no idea that happened in real life! (Well I guess I did, but not… _you_ know) Chemistry class never felt so relevant 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/37 "2005-10-24T16:06:11Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > “Proof” is calculated, as I see you know, by muliplying the alcohol percentage by 2. Hence, 21.5% alcohol = 43 proof. > > (I can remember, many years ago, trying to explain the formula to some fool who claimed to have once consumed some 500 proof booze.) Quite right. I had mistakenly read it as 43% by volume. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/38 "2005-10-24T16:48:57Z")
It’s the tongue for me, too. Maybe my tongue is too sensitive? I dunno, but when I use mouthwash, it feels like someone sprayed burning napalm on my Frencher. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/39 "2005-10-24T17:00:54Z")
Did an experiment this morning, and noticed something interesting. I hadn’t used mouthwash regularly for a good decade. My wife bought some Scope recently. So this morning, I decided to gargle with some and see if I was just forgetting about how mouthwash really felt. But no – I felt no discomfort at all. Actually, I find the sensation of swishing mouthwash around decidedly pleasant … always have. However, I noticed that just seconds after putting the Scope in my mouth, I salivated like a rabid dog. In short order, the mouthwash I was gargling was significantly diluted by saliva. Might the reaction of one’s salivary glands have something to do with how one experiences mouthwash? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235/40 "2005-10-24T17:02:42Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > And my Listerine is 22% alcohol by _volume_, as it says on the freaking label :smack: Each mL contains 0.22mL ethanol and I guess I converted the .22mL to 22% without thinking. :wally: No need for the :wally: smiley … doesn’t **.22 = 22%**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mouthwash-really-need-to-be-so-nuketastic/327235.md?page=3)