Kelsi Phipps

Dental Hygiene IV

Mouth Rinse

Cahoon, M., Marsh, L. (2018). Improve oral health through mouthrinse use. Dimensions of

Dental Hygiene, 16(11), 14, 16, 18.

Mouth rinse can be beneficial to a patient’s oral health. This article mainly talks about

fluoride mouth rinse and antimicrobial mouth rinse. Fluoride mouth rinse helps protect against

caries and is a therapeutic aid. A sodium fluoride mouth rinse can help patients that have

xerostomia from medications, radiation, or diseases. This article also talks about antibacterial

mouth rinse. Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) are two

antibacterial mouth rinses. These mouth rinses are mainly used to reduce plaque and gingival

inflammation. Other ingredients that can have an effect on the oral cavity include peppermint oil,

tea tree oil, and aloe vera. The effectiveness of a mouth rinse will depend on the patient’s need.

As a hygienist, our job will be to help a patient find a mouth rinse that best fits their need.

This article affects me as a dental hygiene student because patients will be asking me

what mouth rinse is best for them. I need to know the different ingredients in mouth rinse and

what will best fit the patient’s need. I learned that a patient with a high caries risk is best served

by a low potency-high frequency regimen. I did not know that the potency and frequency was a

factor in deciding what mouth rinse is best for a patient. I will definitely use these findings in the

future. It is important to know the difference between a fluoride mouth rinse and antibacterial

mouth rinse. Patients usually present with one or the other, caries or heavy plaque and
inflammation. Knowing which mouth rinse will be best for the patient is something I can help

them with. In dental hygiene, we have talked about all the different kinds of mouth rinse. This

article covered some of the things we talked about. For example, a chlorhexidine mouth rinse

and a fluoride mouth rinse. I am glad this article talked about the potency and frequency. That is

not something I had considered. Especially when talking about an over the counter mouth rinse. I

think this article was lacking information about a more “holistic” approach for mouth rinse. In

today’s world I feel like we have a lot more people that are all about herbal medication and stuff

like that. I wish they would have gone more in depth about the tea tree, peppermint, etc. It maybe

could have listed some names of these mouth rinses.