Health lies: Mouthwashes that prevent gum disease don't actually do that.

I'm just now finding out about this myself and I am a bit shocked to be honest with you. I have used Listerine for years because I believed that it was doing a lot of stuff for my pearly whites only to find out that the claims they have made over the years have been proven incorrect by the Food and Drug Administration and while they did not get sued, they and other companies like Scope were warned by the FDA that they have to stop making unfounded claims on their products.

src

I remember many years ago when Listerine was in the news for making claims about how using their product was just as good as flossing at preventing tooth and gum problems. Obviously everyone hates flossing so this made the product a big hit. Unfortunately for them their internal studies were rigged and the information was totally untrue. They were forced to take this claim off of their bottles at least in the United States. It turns out there is no real alternative to flossing and Listerine's claims were based on their own research that didn't exactly prove their claim at all.

Their claims that Listerine prevents gum disease was flagged as false advertising because while it was a factor in preventing gum disease it was only via a combination of other things such as flossing and regular proper brushing as well as regularly visiting a dentist that these claims were actually true.

We see this with a ton of products including a lot of foods and I remember this being the case with a lot of cereals when I was a kid. It seemed like every breakfast cereal, even if it was just a box of sugar for the most part, made some sort of claim that it was part of a healthy breakfast.

src

I think we all know better now but there were a lot of people that fell for this back in the day. Cocoa Krispies and a lot of other things like it are basically a candy bar in a bowl but they had the gall to claim that it was actually good for you.

While I am not a big fan of government meddling I am happy that the FDA gets involved in regulating what advertisers can say because left to their own devices they would simply lie about everything that they could. I still use Listerine because it kind of burns and feels like it must be doing something, right? However, I don't have any real information to indicate that it does do anything.

When talking to a dentist friend one day he was telling me that almost all toothpaste claims are lies as well and that the only important part of the tooth brushing process is the toothbrush itself and your technique. The rest of it is just for fresh breath and he believes from 20 years of experience and education, that toothpaste isn't really even necessary. The industry just convinced us that it is.

So be vigilant out there people. For decades I have been convinced that Listerine was a necessary part of my oral hygiene process but it turns out that it was just a bunch of advertising trickery. Oh well, I like the fresh sensation so I will probably continue using it. It's just a shame that I have been lied to all of these years.