Good news for those wanting a herbal alternative to mouthwash. Terrible news for vampires.
High-concentrate, garlic-based mouthwash may offer longer-lasting protection against microbes – so long as you don’t mind the “burning sensation and unpleasant taste”.
A new systematic review published in the Journal of Herbal Medicine looked at five articles and compared the efficacy of garlic extract with chlorhexidine, a broad-spectrum antibiotic commonly used as a gingivitis treatment.
The research team, which hails from the United Arab Emirates, correctly noted that antimicrobial resistance has become an increasingly large (not to mention somewhat awkward) challenge to global health.
Long-term use of chlorhexidine-based mouthwash has also been associated with an altered sense of taste, dry mouth, a burning sensation, oral numbness, calculus formation and staining of the teeth.
Enter garlic, which is something of a natural antimicrobial substance. It’s also technically classified as a vegetable (this is neither here nor there, but I didn’t know that! Did you?).
Garlic is extremely accessible; globally, we humans consume about 30 million metric tons of the stuff each year.
Australia only accounts for a tiny wee fraction of this – about 12,000 tons – while China, South Korea and Bangladesh dominate the global garlic consumption stakes.
In general, the researchers found that their garlic-based mouthwash idea held water.
“The effectiveness varied based on mouthwash concentration and duration of application, contributing to differences in outcomes,” they wrote.
“Some studies favoured chlorhexidine for maintaining higher plaque/salivary pH, while others reported garlic extract to be more effective at certain concentrations.
“However, garlic mouthwash may cause greater discomfort.”
To be more specific, the taste and smell was a major stumbling block, as was a “burning sensation” reported in some studies.
It’s unclear whether the participants who reported experiencing a burning sensation following ingestion of garlic mouthwash were assessed for other signs of vampirism (e.g. avoidance of sunlight, unquenchable thirst for human blood, affinity to bats).
Instead, the researchers merely concluded that while garlic extract could serve as a viable alternative to chlorhexidine-based mouthwash, the unpleasant taste and burning sensation would likely affect patient adherence.
Are you a vampire? We would really love to meet you. Email Holly@medicalrepublic.com.au.
