index
project info
introduction
purpose
hypothesis
apparatus
method
observations
results
conclusion
Introduction
Mouthwashes are widely advertised as controlling bad breath (halitosis), cleansing the mouth, and promoting oral hygiene. Many mouthwashes claim to “kill the germs that cause bad breath”. With this experiment, I will demonstrate and compare the effectiveness of different mouthwashes
in inhibiting the growth of bacteria obtained from one’s mouth.
The mouthwashes used in this experiment are:
- salt water: this is an old remedy that has been used for thousands of years as a disinfectant.
- Listerine: Listerine contains eucalyptol, menthol ( a cooling substance), and alcohol which is a disinfectant.
- Fluorinse: contains sodium fluoride which is widely used as an anti cavity agent.
- Biotene: an oral rinse that contains several antibacterial enzymes such as lysozyme,
lactoferrine, glucose oxydase and lactoperoxydase. These enzymes together,
help protect the teeth and gums by killing oral bacteria.
In addition to conventional (Western ) mouthwashes such as Listerine, Fluorinse and Biotene,
there are also naturopathic ( ayurvedic ) products on the market that have been shown to promote oral
hygiene. One such product is the Neem mouthwash. Neem is a tree found in India. Its leaf and bark extracts
have been used for centuries to prevent and treat dental problems such as caries, plaque, bad breath and
gingivitis. Neem has also been shown to improve the dental immunity against different bacteria.
I thought that it would be interesting not only to compare the conventional ( Western ) mouthwashes
to each other, but also to compare them to the well researched traditional natural ayurvedic mouthwash Neem.
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