Celestial Dental Centre › Blog › General Dentistry
Does Mouthwash Actually Do Anything?
By the Celestial Dental Centre clinical team · Published · Updated
Mouthwash occupies a strange place. People who never floss buy it faithfully, and plenty use it at a time of day that cancels out the toothpaste they just paid for.
So let us be plain about what a rinse is for.
What is mouthwash actually for?
A rinse cannot replace mechanical plaque removal. Plaque is a sticky biofilm that needs to be disrupted with brushing and cleaning between the teeth. Liquid running over it does not effectively lift it, in the same way that pouring water on a greasy plate does not clean it.
What a rinse can do is deliver fluoride to the tooth surface and reduce the bacterial load for a while.
So if you brush twice a day and clean between your teeth, a mouthwash adds a little. If you do neither, it adds almost nothing, however good it tastes and however aggressively it stings.
Why does my breath come back an hour later?
Because mouthwash often treats the smell rather than the source.
Bad breath can come from the back of the tongue, from between the teeth, from gum disease, from a dry mouth, and sometimes from outside the mouth entirely. Rinsing puts a strong flavour over the top of that. When the flavour fades, the source is still producing.
If your breath outlives your mouthwash, the mouthwash was never the answer. That question is worked through at celestialdental.org/bad-breath-even-after-brushing-causes-and-fixes.
Should I rinse straight after brushing?
No, and this is the one I most want people to take away.
Brushing with fluoride toothpaste leaves a thin, concentrated layer of fluoride on the teeth that keeps working after you finish. Rinsing straight away, with water or with a mouthwash weaker in fluoride than your toothpaste, washes it off.
So after brushing, spit and stop. Do not rinse with anything for at least 5 minutes.
If you want a fluoride mouthwash, use it at a different time of day. Mid afternoon is fine. That way you get two fluoride exposures instead of one that erases the other.
That change costs nothing and is worth more than most of what is on the shelf.
Does salt water really help?
Sometimes, when it is the right tool.
Warm salt water rinses are good for soft tissue problems: a sore or swollen gum, a healing extraction socket after the first day, an ulcer, a flap of gum that keeps trapping food. It soothes, flushes debris out, and costs nothing.
What it does not do is prevent decay, treat gum disease properly or reach inside a tooth. It is reasonable first aid and a poor long-term plan.
Do not make it strong enough to sting. Warm, mildly salty, held gently over the area. After an extraction, do not start rinsing on the first day, because it can disturb the clot.
Can I use Dettol or another antiseptic in my mouth?
Please do not.
Household and skin antiseptics are not made for the mouth. Its lining is not skin, it absorbs far more readily, and these products are not meant to be held there or swallowed even in small amounts. I have seen chemical burns from this, and in children it is genuinely dangerous.
If you want an antiseptic rinse, there are ones formulated for the mouth.
Is the strong rinse from the chemist safe to use every day?
You are probably thinking of chlorhexidine, which is genuinely effective at reducing bacteria.
It is not meant for indefinite use. Extended use stains teeth and tongue a brownish colour, alters taste, and in some people irritates the lining of the mouth. The staining is removable but it takes professional cleaning and polishing to get off.
It is a short-course medicine: after certain surgery, during an acute gum problem, for someone who cannot brush for a period. Two weeks, not two years. If you have been using it since some appointment you half remember, stop and ask.
Does the alcohol in mouthwash matter?
You will find claims that alcohol rinses cause oral cancer. The evidence is weak and contested.
The practical objection is that alcohol dries the mouth, and a dry mouth is higher-risk, because saliva neutralises acid and washes sugar away. If your mouth is already dry from medication or a medical condition, choose an alcohol-free rinse.
So who actually needs a mouthwash?
People with active gum disease, on a specific rinse for a specific period. People at high risk of decay, on a fluoride rinse used away from brushing time. People with braces, who have far more surfaces to manage. People recovering from oral surgery. People with a dry mouth, who benefit from products designed for it.
Everyone else can take it or leave it. If you enjoy it, use it, just not straight after brushing.
If you are choosing between a mouthwash and something to clean between your teeth, the second wins every time. Which of those tools suits your teeth is covered at celestialdental.org/flossing-tight-teeth-floss-interdental-brush-or-water-flosser.
One important exception: children
Mouthwash is not routinely recommended for children under 6 unless a dentist specifically advises it. Young children may swallow the rinse rather than spit it out safely.
Does insurance or SHA cover gum treatment?
Examinations, X-rays and diagnosis are the categories most commonly covered, and treatment of active gum disease is usually assessed as treatment of disease rather than routine care, though cover varies by insurer, scheme and member category. Cosmetic treatment is not covered.
Celestial Dental accepts SHA for eligible schemes and bills more than 20 private insurers directly, including Jubilee, AAR, Madison, CIC, Britam, APA and Equity Bank Insurance. Ask the team to confirm your scheme before you come in.
Book an appointment
Call or WhatsApp +254 707 535 000, or book online at celestialdental.org. Clinics in Kasarani (Nairobi), Kamakis (Ruiru) and Eldoret, open every day from 07:00 to 20:00.
Bring whatever you are currently rinsing with. Half the time the advice is to change the hour, not the product.