Excellent if you understand the science behind it.
CariFree offers a carefully thought out line of products geared more earnestly towards improving your oral health than any other company I have encountered. I have rather bad teeth and so am extremely careful with them, and put a lot of effort into finding the best products; therefore I settled on CariFree. There are a number of reasons why this is absolutely superior to ordinary mouthwashes such as those from Crest or Listerine. 1) This is alkaline. People often think that your teeth get back because of sugar; this is not the case. The sugar feed bacteria which then metabolize it to produce acid. It is therefore quite obviously desirable to neutralize this acid, which spikes after eating any food but particularly after eating/drinking sugary or acidic drinks (sugar free sweets are often full of acids to give a "sour" flavor). Most mouthwashes are actually acidic, as you can find upon a quick google search; according to Frey Smiles' blog, Listerine is around pH 4 and Crest Pro-Health around 4.7. Neutral is pH 7. CariFree is pH 8. 2) This has no alcohol. Alcohol is generally not good for you; it's been linked with oral cancer, and definitely can cause dry mouth. Also, it just feels nasty in your mouth. 3) This is antibacterial without staining. Xylitol is a generally effective antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal agent. Some studies do say you should not eat xylitol, but this is a rinse, not a gum. The other main antimicrobials are alcohol and cetylpyridinium chloride. Alcohol is bad for the reasons we've mentioned; CPC, on the other hand, can cause awful tooth staining (and it did this for me). 4) This has fluoride. Many rinses do not- you have to look carefully on the package. Tooth enamel is a mineral that consists of calcium, phosphate, and hydroxide ions. In solution, as in your saliva, these ions are constantly popping off and on, but at a very low rate (acidity increases this rate, however). Fluoride ions are more electronegative than hydroxide ions, and so they pop back in instead of hydroxide and hold the structure together more tightly (decreasing the rate at which they pop off). In terms of usage, I also enjoy its flavor, and the fact that it isn't full of useless or possibly harmful dyes, scents, or other additives like most other mouthwashes. It's pretty straightforward: a bunch of really important ingredients that work together well. I also might add that although this product is very expensive, it was developed off real science; the likes of Listerine are products that have been sold in forms very similar to their current form for years. CariFree has a hard time competing with these big companies, but they do offer better products. Finally, I'd recommend looking into their remineralizing toothpaste. As I mentioned, your enamel has three ions that exist in a solubility equilibrium in your saliva: calcium, phosphate, and hydroxide (replaced by fluoride). It makes sense, therefore, that just adding one of these ions is not enough if you want to actually strengthen your teeth. CariFree's toothpaste contains bioavailable sources of calcium and phosphate ions, allowing your tooth enamel to actually rebuild, rather than just dissolve at a lower rate. I hope this helps you all. Read more
