Is Your Mouthwash Killing You?

Health is a game of building blocks.

The higher you stack the blocks, the taller is the wall between you and bad health.

At first the blocks are large. These blocks are the basics of good health: Don’t smoke. Eat a balanced diet. Get exercise.

As your wall of health becomes taller, the blocks become smaller. The game is now about doing little things, such as getting enough of a particular vitamin or avoiding a practice that you didn’t realize was harmful.

Your mouthwash may be one of those “little things.” It may be secretly killing you.

How is that possible?

Mouthwash is good for your health. It kills bacteria in the mouth that cause tooth decay.

The problem is that 90% of the mouthwashes sold in the United States contain alcohol- and lots of it.

Alcohol is the active ingredient in mouthwashes because it kills bacteria. Of that there is no doubt. The problem is that alcohol is also a carcinogen. Prolonged exposure to alcohol can result in the cell mutations that cause cancer.

That’s why heavy drinkers often suffer from oral cancer later in life.

Alcohol is also a powerful solvent. It is used in industry to dissolve other substances…