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Dr. Laura Geiger, DDS of Southeast Family Dental in Indianapolis, Indiana reviews the different types of mouth rinses and which type of mouth rinse is better suited for you. Dr. Geiger also explains the correct order to use mouth rinse when it comes to brushing, flossing and rinsing.

https://youtu.be/furgn19X_Tg 

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Transcript

Hi, my name is Laura Geiger from Southeast Family Dental and today we’re going to talk about mouth rinses. One of the big questions I get from patients is should I use a mouth rinse, how should I use a mouth rinse, so I’m going to try and answer that today.

First of all, there’s a few different kinds of mouth rinses, so the first three are more ones that you want to talk to your dentist about. So there’s an antibiotic-containing mouth rinse that we use a lot of times for surgeries or people who have gum disease. There’s also one that we can prescribe for patients who have sores or more of a chronic condition, that’s also again a prescription. And lastly, one that if you suffer from dry mouth or notice that you have dry mouth, we can then offer that as well.

Most of the questions I get though are about the fourth kind which is just kind of the general mouth rinse you get at the store. There are typically four different kinds of general mouth rinse. There’s ones that contain fluoride and don’t have fluoride and there’s ones that have alcohol and then ones that don’t have alcohol.

The main ones that I tell people to get are the fluoride or non-fluoride. Usually fluoride is for someone who is at a higher risk for having cavities or those who have habits that put them at a higher risk for cavities. The alcohol-containing is just patient-dependent on whether you like to have it or don’t. I try to avoid using the alcohol mouth rinse in patients who have those chronic sores because they tend to burn and can hurt. Again, the first three kinds are more ones to discuss with your dentist. The last one, as far as the general goes, you can grab whatever you like or want to use at the store.

But the main thing I find that people don’t know is how to use their rinse. A lot of times people want to do that last after they brush but what I tell patients is, if you’re going to do all three together, I want you to floss, then rinse, and then brush. The flossing will obviously get some of that debris out from between the teeth. Then use that rinse that can help clean off some of that that you’ve just taken out with the floss. And last, I want you to brush because that will leave that fluoride on overnight. So after you’re done brushing, I don’t want you to rinse again, whether with a mouse rinse or water.

Again, this has been Laura Geiger from Southeast Family Dental and we can make you smile.