Carretero Peláez M Angeles, Esparza Gómez Germán C, Figuero Ruiz Elena, Cerero Lapiedra Rocio
Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
Med Oral. 2004 Mar-Apr;9(2):120-3, 116-20.
For centuries, mouthwashes have been used in order to provide us with oral health or cosmetic benefits. Nowadays, in most countries, there is a variety of formulas available for the general public in the form of products which may require prescription or not. Alcohol is used in mouthwashes as a solvent of other ingredients and as a preservative of the preparation. For years, different formulas of mouthwashes have been used, however, the question about its alcohol content being a threat for health or not has recently appeared. The high quantity of alcohol in some mouthwashes combined with the fact that they keep in contact with the oral mucosa for much more time than alcoholic drinks, can make us think about a harmful effect from a local mechanism. Mouthrinses increase the time of the mucosa being in contact with alcohol and it has been proved that those with a high content of alcohol do cause hyperkerastosic lesions both in human beings and laboratory animals. At the moment and with the data we have, it has not been possible to establish a causal relationship between the use of alcohol-containing mouthwashes and the development of oral cancer. There is neither an evidence of the fact that alcohol increases the effects of antiplaque agents in mouthwashes.
几个世纪以来，漱口水一直被用于为我们提供口腔健康益处或美容功效。如今，在大多数国家，有各种各样的漱口水配方以产品形式供公众使用，这些产品可能需要处方，也可能不需要。酒精在漱口水中用作其他成分的溶剂和制剂的防腐剂。多年来，人们使用了不同配方的漱口水，然而，关于其酒精含量是否对健康构成威胁的问题最近出现了。一些漱口水中的高酒精含量，再加上它们与口腔黏膜接触的时间比酒精饮料长得多，这可能会让我们想到局部机制的有害影响。漱口水会增加黏膜与酒精接触的时间，并且已经证明，酒精含量高的漱口水确实会在人类和实验动物身上导致角化过度病变。就目前我们所掌握的数据而言，尚未能够确定含酒精漱口水的使用与口腔癌的发生之间存在因果关系。也没有证据表明酒精会增强漱口水的防牙菌斑作用。
