When I first saw the No Alcohol
label on this bottle of Oradex I was sure it was just an advertising ploy to distract you from the fact that Oradex contains the chemical Chlorhexidine.
Now I know this stuff is nasty because in my more ignorant days and before I was saved by OraMd, I used Oradex on the advice of a Dentist when I had a gum infection. It caused a number of side effects. It is a really horrible mouthwash.
Chlorhexidine is an Antiseptic Agent
On further investigation, Chlorhexidine is not quite as bad a chemical as I suspected; not as bad as triclosan which is commonly found in toothpastes. But still Chlorhexidine is a chemical with oral side effects: stained teeth, deposition of tartar (i.e. causes tartar) and breach of taste (basically ruins your taste buds for a long period of time). This is not to mention the side effects when it is used on the skin. Things like dermatitis and worse there is a risk of an anaphylactic reaction.
It will also adversely interact with many other common ingredients…like soap, iodine and sodium lauryl sulphate which is in just about everything! This is more relevant when used to wash burns or wounds of the skin.
Studies show that the use of Chlorhexidine to bath patients in hospitals will prevent the contraction of MDRO’s or super bug infections. So it may have a useful place in healthcare.
But I wouldn’t use it in my mouth!
What I Used Instead of Oradex
This is how I ended up with a small bottle: I recently had oral surgery and the dentist gave me a bottle of Oradex to rinse my mouth and prevent infection.
I didn’t use it. And I had major oral surgery. And I was worried about getting an infection.
I had been grinding my teeth (bruxism) and this caused a crowned and root-canal tooth to sort of fall apart. Apparently when you get root canals this makes your teeth brittle and vulnerable to breaking apart as time goes on…especially if you are a grinder. So they had to cut open my gum and dig around to remove the bits of broken tooth.
But back to the Oradex! The fact that the label reads No Alcohol is laughable. If I had to choose between using alcohol and Chlorhexidine in my mouth…well I’d rather not use either but if I had to choose give me the alchohol.
Mind you there are literally dozens of different types of alcohol so I want a natural organic alcohol (vodka?) versus a chemical or synthetic alcohol (like isopropyl).
Instead of using Oradex to prevent an infection after my oral surgery, I rinsed my mouth with this salt and baking soda recipe and I added some OraMd but left out the hydrogen peroxide.
And then I drank lots of black tea. Black tea is an astringent so it helps to stem the bleeding and it is also antibacterial so it can prevent infection. And I did not get an infection.
Use a Natural Non-Toxic Alternative
There are plenty of proven natural alternatives to chemical toothpastes and antibacterial mouthwashes. Make your own or get something like 100% natural and effective OraMd but don’t use these horrible chemicals if you want to stay healthy.
