Time to throw away your mouthwash

A review published in the Dental Journal of Australia reveals that mouthwashes which contain alcohol can cause oral cancer. How scary is that?! Time to throw away that bottle of Listerine and stick to a more natural mouthwash. From The Daily Telegraph:

Prof McCullough, chair of the ADA's therapeutics committee and associate professor of oral medicine at the University of Melbourne, is calling on the ADA to urgently re-assess its seal of approval on mouthwashes containing alcohol.

"We see people with oral cancer who have no other risk factors than the use of alcohol-containing mouthwash, so what we've done in this study is review all the evidence that's out there,'' he said.

"Since this article came out, further evidence has come out too. We believe there should be warnings.

"If it was a facial cream that had the effect of reducing acne but had a four- to five-fold increased risk of skin cancer, no one would be recommending it.''