The Scoop on Scope

When you’re going through your three-pronged dental health routine tonight – flossing, brushing and gargling – you might want to reconsider that third step. Because according to an Australian-based study, you could be gargling up an increased risk for cancer.

Unlike most researchers, who go all around their findings before making any advisements to their readers as to what they should or shouldn’t do based on their discoveries, that’s certainly not the case with these Aussie researchers.

Not only do they say there’s “sufficient evidence” that the link between oral cancer and alcohol-based mouthwash is real, but they advise all grocers pull Listerine and Scope products from supermarket shelves entirely, or at the very least mark them up with warnings labels so consumers know what they’re swishing.

What makes mouthwash so harsh and potentially cancer-causing is its alcohol content. According to the researchers, this alcohol – ethanol, specifically – gives cancer-causing substances the ability to form within the mouth, thus contributing to the estimated 41,000 newly diagnosed oral cancer cases each year (about 400,000 worldwide).

Fox News interviewed a cosmetic dentist recently whose views will likely make you question your long-held assumptions about mouthwash.

“[Alcohol-based mouthwash] dries out the mouth terribly and creates a rebound effect of bad breath,” said Dr. Jennifer Jablow, a regular contributor to dental health segments on CBS News whose day job is spent in the offices of Park 56 Dental Group in New York City. “It also creates a very acidic environment that allows cavities to develop easier.”

Despite the good doctor’s stance, this may seem to some like making a mountain out of a mole hill. After all, you’ve likely spent most of your life swishing with alcohol-based mouthwash and been told that it was a good thing. Why stop now? Further, why isn’t drinkable alcohol labeled as cancer-causing?

Well, as it happens, drinking does increase the risk of oral cancer. In fact, according to the study’s lead researcher, Michael McCullough, an associate professor of oral medicine at the University of Melbourne, people who drink and use alcohol-based mouthwash are at five times the risk for oral cancer compared to those who don’t drink or use mouthwash (smokers were at the highest risk at nine times the risk).

McCullough and others aren’t coming out as strongly against drinkable alcohol because the average drinker doesn’t swish wine or beer in the mouth for extended periods of time; it’s swallowed relatively quickly. Another reason is that beer and wine don’t have as high an alcohol content as alcohol-based mouthwashes have (ranging from 20-28 percent alcohol, depending on the brand).

But the most significant difference according to McCullough is that “one is for entertainment and one is being recommended as a health product.” In other words, wine, beer and champagne carry with them some assumed and inherent risks; there really aren’t any assumed risks in a product that’s supposed to be contributing to oral health.

So what’s the alternative? Forgoing mouthwash altogether? You could do that, but mouthwash itself is not the problem. It’s the alcohol. Thus, on your next jaunt to the grocer’s or drug store, look for alcohol-free mouthwash; you should be able to find some carried by familiar brands.

I use "Tea Tree Oil Mouthwash" by Desert Essence. This is a natural mouthwash that contains organic tea tree oil, aloe vera gel and oil of spearment. I avoid the commercially manufactured junk and I strongly recommend you do the same.

In the meantime, talk to your dentist about this latest research and how he or she feels about alcohol-based mouthwash. I’d be interested in what he or she has to say.

Sources
The Oral Cancer Foundation
The Daily Telegraph