Talk:Listerine

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[edit] FreshBurst Came First

I don't know who keeps changing it. My parents used FreshBurst long before '02, and I have not seen Cool Mint until '02. The fact these are switched is pure vandalism. I would like to see who does this. TheListUpdater 02:39, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

If you could find a citation, that would help! Wikipedia prefers verifiable information. Why should we take your word for it? BTW, removing unverifiable information is not vandalism. --Faith healer 12:09, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
Well, TheListUpdater, you've gone about this the wrong way. First of all that warning to "cite" that person for vandalism is not only a threat that wards off new users, it is also empty because they aren't being a vandal if they truly believe that FreshBurst appeared in '02. Also, the fact that your parents used FreshBurst "long before '02" is original research of information that is difficult to verify.
OK, that was a long time ago, but it didn't say that on the website that FreshBurst did come in 2002, so that part is wrong.TheListUpdater 16:09, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol

What kind of alcohol? If it were the consumable type, wouldn't a drinking alcohol tax be applicable? ✈ James C. 03:07, 2004 Sep 5 (UTC)

The alcohol is a de-natured, pharmaceutical grade alcohol that is only present in order to solubolize the essentail oils, which gives Listerine its antiseptic effectivenes. -Unknown
Well, what happens if you drink it, then? 63.202.81.76 11:37, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
You get drunk. It's ethanol. But many products contain ethanol that don't have a drinking alcohol tax on them, because they're not meant to be consumed orally. --X 0 15:01, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
DO NOT drink denatured alcohol. It is not pure ethanol. It has additives designed to make it unfit for human consumption...sometimes including methanol which your liver turns into formaldehyde. Although I doubt Listerine contains any methanol, the other additives are still designed to make you sick.63.250.85.186 13:35, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

If there was no evidence to back up the claim that it kills odor-causing bacteria, wouldn't the company be sued or something? At the very least the thing about it helping prevent gum disease has to be true, right?

Listerine has been on the market for over 125 years and has over 130 clinical studies proving its safety and efficacy. -Unknown
Even if they could be sued, there's no reason to assume that they would be - who would bring the suit? A regulatory authority might ask them to modify their claims, but these generally lack, er, teeth. Since their competitor mouthwashes like to push similar claims, ie. that mouthwashes can usefully ameliorate bad breath, there's unlikely to be a suit (compare something like this).
There are actually a couple of claims here: First that the mouthwash kills "germs", by which they presumably mean normal mouth flora and not some exotic pathogen (the ethanol concentration isn't actually high enough to kill much of anything, though it can suppress growth of some bacteria), and second that bad breath (a) is at least partly caused by such "germs" and (b) can be meaningfully reduced by killing (or suppressing) them. The problem is that the causes of bad breath are all that well-understood, and the cures for it have a long history of being made from pressed snake (with virtually no entries that are supported by any evidence). There'd be a big market for anything that did work, which is why any claim in the area is naturally going to be viewed with suspicion without strong evidence to back it up.
The more recent claim that mouthwash can affect plaque formation (and thus some forms of gingivitis) is also questionable; some people seem to think that some of the ingredients in Listerine (other than ethanol) can reduce it, though the FDA may not be convinced (need a more recent reference for that than I've been able to find). As with bad breath, there are a lot of marginal claims in this area too - my favourite is on all of the toothpastes with marketing bumpf claiming they prevent plaque deposits, when what actually does that is the simple action of brushing itself, pretty much regardless of the paste ingredients (just as mechanical action is what makes flossing work, not the composition of the floss). I don't know whether a proper controlled study has examined whether the vigourous swishing action of a mouthwash is responsible for any benefit. Unfortunately, most of the studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies, and most of the reporting consists of their advertising. - toh 23:29, 2005 Jan 10 (UTC)
I drank Listerine when i was 12 years old several times a day about a litre (34 floz) bottle in a week, i got a bit nauseous . but I'm alive, healthy, and have drank alcohol at least once a week since i was 14 as well as occasionally some acid (LSD) or laughing gas —The preceding unsigned comment was added by The Right Honourable (talk • contribs) 06:52, 14 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Scope

How about an article on Scope? Let's avoid free advertizing. -Unknown

What is even Scope? In the United Kingdom it is a charity for children with disabilities, but I doubt the Scope mentioned here is the same thing. I am assuming it is something well known in America, but not elsewhere, please do remember there are English speaking people not from America so either briefly explain what Scope is, link to a wiki article about or reference an external link which has information on the story! Feebtlas 20:42, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
(Sorry for not signing the comment above). Look at the third paragraph of the article. Basically, Scope is a competitor. I'm actually not sure anymore whether it deserves its own article; it doesn't have the history Listerine has. But all it has now is a short sentence in the disambiguation. Twilight Realm 20:26, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Effect on saliva drug test?

Will it effect the out come of the drug test? -Unknown

Gargling with it wouldn't affect the outcome of a urine or blood test, as enough of it doesn't enter your blood stream to be detected. It will, however, cause a higher reading on a breath analyzer test, as shown on an episode of, I think, Brainiac (a comedy/entertainment/science show from the UK). The breath analyzer systems in use read the amount of alcohol on your breath, and then extrapolates that number to determine the amount in your blood. If there is alcohol in your mouth, it can give false readings as alcohol on your breath. This being said, you'd have to gargle, spit and take the test within a few minutes, or the alcohol would evaporate or be diluted by saliva and swallowed, and then you'd have a normal reading. --X 0 15:07, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
Since mints are known to cause false negatives on saliva tests (specificly tests for cannabinoids) I would hazard a guess that listerene would do the same thing, albeit in a much more noticeable and less portable way. -Unknown

[edit] Cancer controversy

There is no evidence that its properties as a solvent, mainly from the 26.9% (in regular Listerine) alcohol, cause an easier reception of carcinogens.

If this were true, there would be no controversy, would there? Well, at least among the rationally minded. I sense a POV problem here, or perhaps the author just neglected to describe the controversy.

A large and often-cited study suggesting such a link is the National Cancer Institute study of 1991. [1] In interviews of 866 patients with oral cancers and 1249 controls of similar age and sex among the general population, researchers concluded that "risks of oral cancer were elevated by 40% among male and 60% among female mouthwash users." They found a proportional correlation between risks in both sexes and duration and frequency of mouthwash use.

The NCI study was refuted by a Journal of the American Dental Association review in 2003. [2] Of the nine studies JADA reviewed, they found that two showed some positive connections between alcohol-containing mouthwash use and oral cancer. However they concluded that "the weight of the evidence strongly suggests that use of [alcohol-containing mouthwash] does not increase the risk of [oropharyngeal cancer]." --Dforest 18:27, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Benzoic acid

Listed in the ingredients... I've had 2nd hand explanations from a few people (including a dentist) that Listerine may actually be detrimental to dental health. Most tooth decay is caused by acids (including acidic by-products from microbes); although Listerine is an effective antiseptic, does the acid it contains threaten teeth? I was further told that, after brushing, the protective surface layer of the teeth would have been relatively weakened, making teeth more vulnerable to acids. Perhaps in need of an expert.

Everything you eat and drink has acids in it. Apples are, in generally, very acidic, but are considered good for dental health. My thoughts are that the benefits of the antibacterial action FAR outweigh the damage caused by the slight acidity of Listerine. X 0 18:21, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
You don't generally do it for a very long period. You swish your mouth out with water to remove the taste afterwards anyway, so that would help neutralize any acid. Tyciol (talk) 15:13, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Safety recall

Recent news on CNBC stated that Listering "Cool Blue Plaque" is being recalled. Some preservatives in it may promote growth of bacteria. Thoughts? -Unknown

I think it would be useful to clarify that the recalled product line "Listerine Agent Cool Blue" is a very different product than any of the traditional Listerine Mouthwash products. Listerine Agent Cool Blue is a plaque disclosing rinse, not a anti-badbreath mouthwash.
It is a totally different product, with a different formulation, aimed at a different problem. It might also be useful to point out that the potential bacterial growth problem would be unique to the anti-plaque rinse since it doesn't contain the potent antimicrobials that are the core of the other Listerines. I mention this because it took me a bit of checking before I realized the distinction. 75.80.164.40 (talk) 07:07, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Saccharin Sodium

Listed in the "Non-medical Ingredients" of the Canadian Cool Mint Listerine is the artificial sweetener saccharin sodium. Can this lead to oral cancer would be my first question, the second would be why is this legal in Canada? I would guess because you don't actually ingest the mouthwash that saccharin inclusion does not warrant it's illegality or safety labeling?

[edit] Glass listerine bottle photo?

Are there any public-domain photos of the old-style glass listerine bottle, or could somebody take a photo of one? That'd be nice to add to the history section. --NeuronExMachina 02:40, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Animation

Luxo jr was years before the Listerine comercial. Toy Story was being worked on when the Listerine animation was on the air. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.184.241.144 (talk) 18:05, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Alcohol in Listerine

Hi, Just thought I'd let you know that i tested listerine today in the lab and i got 24.17 % alcohol v/v with it...so it would be a bit nasty to drink but, if your desperate.... ;-) -Unknown

Feelings of desperation to get drunk are best not heeded. Tyciol (talk) 15:13, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Name of inventor?

Article claims that the inventors of Listerine were Dr. Nicole Dyer Lawrence and Christian Bach. Find-A-Grave claims that it was invented by Dr Joseph Joshua Lawrence, and Sheila Barrett claim that the inventors were Dr. Joseph Lawrence and Jordan Wheat Lambert. I don't have access to a real WP:RS source for them, but those 2 seem to agree that the names currently there are wrong. In the absence of evidence for the other names, I'm changing them to what Sheila Barrett thinks. --Alvestrand (talk) 08:42, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Growing up I had been told that my great grandfather invented Listerine. His name was Peppino Melfi born 4/8/1857 in Naples, Italy. He immigrated to the US and attended high school in Troy, NY and then went to Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) and Graduate Scientific Course of Collegiate Institute in Fort Eward, NY. He became a physician who practiced in Syracuse, NY and wrote "The Germs of Disease and How to Combat Them" published in the NY State Medical Reporter. At the time they were discovering about germs and he tried to invent an antiseptic and was not inventing a mouth wash. He sold the formula to another doctor who then named it after a Dr. Lister, calling it "Listerine" as a mouth wash.--MoJoToo (talk) 18:06, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Poloxamer 407

I see alot of talk on here about the alcohol and whether it is drinkable or not, but I just read one of the ingredients as 'Poloxamer 407', which is a well known substance used in research to put rats/mice into a hyperlipidemic state. [3] [4]. I know that wikipedia isn't a doctor, but this should be mentioned on the page with regards to drinking Listerine. --Mark PEA (talk) 10:23, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gargling

While this has been brought up in the talk page, gargling is not mentioned at all in the article. While I know it is used as a swishing mouthwash, I think it is common enough to use Listerine as a gargling solution to deserve its mention. Tyciol (talk) 15:14, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia section

I've relocated the trivia section here to facilitate an quick cleanup.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • A 1970s commercial for Listerine featured Judd Hirsch playing a radio disc jockey, in what was one of his first television appearances. The tagline for the product at the time was, "The taste people hate, twice a day."
  • Hyphy Rapper E-40's "Tell Me When to Go" includes the line "Talking on my Ghettro on the way to the store/... My 2nd or 3rd trip/Some Henny, some Swishers and some Listerine strips."
  • In the mid-1990s, Listerine rival Scope, made by Procter & Gamble, listed Rosie O'Donnell as the least-kissable celebrity in the U.S. In response, O'Donnell teamed up with Listerine to give money to charity every time she kissed someone on her talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show; this provided positive publicity for Listerine and harsh publicity for Scope, which O'Donnell disparaged on her show[1].
  • Coach Z, a character from the internet series Homestar Runner, routinely drinks Listerine recreationally, most notably during a Christmas special.
  • Philip J. Fry, a character from the animated series Futurama, didn't find voting cool, so he stayed home alone and got trashed on Listerine. (S02E07 - A Head In The Polls)
  • "Dramamine", a song by Modest Mouse features the lyrics, "Traveling swallowing Dramamine, feelin' spaced, breathing out Listerine"
Q. What do you think of the taste of Listerine?
A. Taste?! I use it for removing grease from my bicycles!


I'll work on this tonight, then remove this section. Cheers. L0b0t (talk) 19:43, 2 June 2008 (UTC)