Mouthwash has become a "celebrity" product on live broadcasts. How to choose oral cleaning products?

Many oral care products such as mouthwash and dental floss have become popular online through live streaming and have entered people's lives. Do they really have magical effects? How to choose?

Written by reporter Liu Daheng (Medical and Health Group)

Graphic editor/Chen Yongjie New media editor/Chen Xuanzhi

Reviewers:

Cui Shuxia (Director of the Department of Orthodontics, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University)

"I use mouthwash when going out on dates!!! It's super useful, I must use it!!!"

Imagine that when you are with your partner, if you have bad breath, it would be like a devastating car accident and an epically embarrassing scene!

Faced with the above embarrassing situation, would you like to use the mouthwash recommended by Luo Yonghao during the live broadcast?

Nowadays, many oral care products have become “Internet celebrity” products through online live broadcasts and have entered our lives.

It's not just the toothpaste we use every day, but also mouthwash, water flosser, dental floss, etc. When faced with so many oral care products, how should we choose?

Oral care products have no therapeutic effect

When it comes to oral care products, the one we are most familiar with is definitely toothpaste, and the predecessor of toothpaste is tooth powder. As early as the 18th century, Britain had already begun industrial production of tooth powder.

▲In 1770, British prisoner Mandis created the current toothbrush shape in prison. For more than a hundred years since the toothbrush made by Mandis came out, Westerners have been brushing their teeth with tooth powder. (Picture from the Internet)

In 1893, the Viennese Seger invented toothpaste and put it into a tube, which was more convenient and hygienic. Since then, toothpaste has been developed in large quantities and gradually replaced the position of tooth powder. But at that time, the purpose of people cleaning their mouths was only to remove bad breath in the mouth or remove stains on teeth.

Since the 1940s, due to the rapid development of science and technology, the toothpaste industry has also made great progress. On the one hand, the development and application of new abrasives, moisturizers, thickeners and surfactants have enabled toothpaste products to be continuously upgraded; on the other hand, toothpaste has also evolved from ordinary tooth cleaning products to oral care products that can prevent oral diseases. The most prominent of these is fluoride toothpaste, which greatly reduces the incidence of dental caries. Consumers have also learned through actual use and merchant publicity that the most important purpose of using toothpaste is to prevent oral diseases.

However, people gradually discovered that up to 40% of the tooth surface cannot be cleaned with a toothbrush, so brushing alone is not enough to achieve in-depth oral cleaning.

In response to consumers' demand for refined and high-end oral care, high-end oral care products such as dental floss, mouthwash, water flosser, interdental brushes, etc. have emerged and quickly filled the gap in high-end oral care products. These oral care products have their own functions, and almost no one can replace the efficacy of other products.

Take the bad breath that bothers many people as an example. In fact, the main source of bad breath is not the surface of the teeth or the oral mucosa, but the gaps between the teeth that may be overlooked in daily tooth cleaning. However, even when brushing your teeth with an electric toothbrush, you can only clean the surface of the teeth and not deep into the gaps between the teeth. Over time, dental plaque and food residues accumulate in the gaps between the teeth, making the gaps between the teeth the easiest place to accumulate bad breath and the hardest to clean. Oral care products such as dental floss, mouthwash, and interdental brushes can easily clean and care for the gaps between the teeth.

It should be noted that some businesses claim that their toothpaste and other oral care products have therapeutic effects such as treating periodontal disease and fighting Helicobacter pylori, which is very confusing. Because currently no oral care product has a therapeutic effect on oral diseases, it can only play a preventive role in oral diseases.

How to choose from a variety of internet celebrity products?

Nowadays, we are more and more strict in selecting oral care products. Whitening, stain removal and odor removal have become the most basic functions of oral care products. Especially after the popularity of online short video platforms, advertisements for oral care products such as mouthwash and water flossers can often be seen on these platforms. However, the overwhelming promotion of these products by these merchants has made consumers confused. Which oral care product should they choose? Can these products really achieve the advertised effect?

Mouthwash

In many people's minds, mouthwash is a "great savior" for treating bad breath. Fresh breath may be the first reason for most people to use mouthwash. Whether they don't have the conditions to brush their teeth after a meal or are too busy to clean, using mouthwash is definitely the most convenient way to clean teeth. Some people think that the role of mouthwash should not only be to remove bad breath, but also have the effect of inhibiting bacteria and killing bacteria. Therefore, many people will specifically choose antibacterial mouthwash when purchasing.

Although mouthwash now has more functions and more branches, it also comes with more and more side effects. This is because most mouthwash products contain antibacterial agents. Long-term and excessive use of mouthwash will lead to oral flora disorder, which in turn causes some physical diseases.

Like the intestinal flora and skin flora, there are at least 700 kinds of microorganisms living in our mouths, including both beneficial bacteria and many neutral and harmful bacteria. Moreover, the oral flora is very sensitive. The external environment affects the overall changes of the oral flora all the time, and even the air quality may affect the oral flora. However, the bactericidal ingredients in mouthwash may cause a sharp decrease in some common oral probiotics, while the number of some harmful bacteria of the genus Actinomycetes increases.

Moreover, the most traditional disinfectant in mouthwash is ethanol, which is alcohol. Long-term use will not only cause the oral mucosa to become thinner, but may also cause trouble for drivers who are about to drive.

Dental floss

Oral hygiene is very important to our health, but we can only clean 60% to 70% of the tooth surface by brushing our teeth every day. The gaps between teeth and some areas on the back of teeth cannot be brushed by toothbrushes. If the soft plaque hidden in the gaps between teeth is not cleaned in time, it is easy to breed harmful bacteria. Over time, these bacteria will form plaque, and eventually become dental calculus, causing gum disease and even tooth decay. Therefore, if you want to clean the gaps between teeth properly, you need to use dental floss and mouthwash to assist in cleaning.

Dental floss, toothpicks, interdental brushes, etc. are all oral products used to clean between teeth, but the design of dental floss is more scientific. Dental floss uses soft materials such as nylon to clean deep between teeth without causing damage to the gums, while interdental brushes are more suitable for people with periodontal disease and those with wide gaps between teeth.

But some people still have a doubt about dental flossing, that is, will long-term use of dental floss make the gaps between teeth wider? In fact, using dental floss will not make the gaps between teeth wider. The reason why some people feel that the gaps between teeth have become wider after using dental floss is that the dirt that has been blocking the gaps for a long time has been removed. The culprit for the widening of the gaps between teeth is gum recession, not dental floss. As long as dental floss is used correctly, it will not harm the teeth, and it will even help maintain a good oral environment and maintain gum health.

Water flosser

There is another oral care product that has become extremely popular recently: the water flosser. The water flosser, also known as the water dental flosser, is a device that uses the power of water to flush the teeth, thereby cleaning the teeth. The biggest function of the water flosser is that it can quickly and efficiently clean the dirt between the teeth.

Although the water flosser is also called water dental floss, it cannot completely replace the use of traditional dental floss. This is because the bacteria in the gaps between teeth often adhere to the tooth surface in the form of dental plaque, which requires strong friction and scraping of dental floss to remove. Although the water flow of the water flosser can wash away most of the food residues in the dead corners between teeth, it can only wash away part of the dental plaque on the surface of the teeth.

Since dental floss can solve the same problems as water flossers, why do we still use water flossers? The reason is that water flossers have their own advantages: they are simple and easy to use. Friends who have used dental floss must have this problem: it is easy to use dental floss on the front teeth, but it is more difficult to use dental floss on the back teeth. Water flossers, which are also interdental cleaning tools, can automatically spray water and have a slim and compact nozzle, which makes them more portable and easier to use than dental floss.

It doesn't mean that there is nothing wrong with your teeth if they don't hurt

Teeth are parts of the human body that cannot be repaired once damaged. Therefore, Americans spend a lot of money on protecting their teeth. Dentists have become the highest-paid profession in the United States, followed by lawyers and general practitioners. Moreover, as life expectancy continues to increase, the durability of teeth has not increased with life expectancy. Dental care has become a major issue that everyone needs to face.

Although society is developing, some people still hold the mentality that if the teeth don't hurt, there is nothing wrong with them. They don't have a strong concept of maintaining teeth and think that brushing teeth is enough to maintain teeth. But in fact, brushing teeth with toothpaste is equivalent to washing your face with facial cleanser, and after washing your face, you need to use skin care products. Teeth also need to be maintained like skin.

Once a tooth has a problem, a cavity filling will cost at least 500 yuan. It is better to take precautions before it happens. Protect your teeth and don't regret not taking care of them earlier until you have a problem with your teeth.

In fact, when we choose oral care products, we should first know what the purpose of oral care is. Whether it is to remove bad breath in the mouth, reduce tooth decay or prevent periodontal disease, we should choose the most suitable product for ourselves. And we should understand the truth: using brushing and other methods to clean the mouth is only for daily care, not for treating oral diseases.

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

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