I have been chewing over this and reading all the news feeds,and my sleep was totally disrupted by dreams of all the google and media headlines regarding Robins dentists court hearing.

"Dentist told Robin Read to gargle with listerine 1 year later he was dead from mouth cancer"
Do i now have to live with the thought that not only did he fail to diagnose Robins ulcer as cancerous,but he also prescribed a treatment that actually was going to make the tumour more aggressive!!!! Robin used listerine at the rate of a bottle a week for the next six months only changing to the alcohol free version when the pain and burning on his tongue became unbearable.

God this modern world just sucks

Alcohol is alcohol. The only differencs between Jack Daniels amd Listerine are the additives and the manufacturing process (they don't age Listerine in burned oak barrels).

The 64 dollar question is - is alcohol a carcinogen or mutagen?

Is it an irritant to health skin tissue? We do know that it can cause cirrhosis and/or liver cancer.

Remember when the FDA approved that targeted receptor drug and later found out the placebo was more effective!?!?!

So Ray, lets see, you were also a heavy Listerine user and a non smoker and a casual drinker and you got OC.....hummmm not sure you are making a noteworthy counterpoint.

I know we have discussed and dismissed this topic each time it was previously brought up but I still remember the burning feeling in my mouth every time I used Listerine which I thought was good, you know killing those bad germs.

It will be interesting to see the "other point of view".

Okay, let me jump in and add to the chain of causality or coincidence (depending on which competing study you believe) to note that in the decade before DX, I was a major Listerine junkie - swishing it through my teeth after stimudenting - four times a day (meals and bedtime) as part of my oral hygiene drill.

So now I can tell people that my Cancer was "Holistic" - triggered by a confluence of second hand smoke (recent post), mouthwash, incense (old post and also in OCF data base), and the Summers of Love from 1969 to 1981.

Seriously while The mouthwash issue for moot for me, I am switching my son over to non alcohol mouthwash like Biotene. Even the chance that this is only a contributing factor is too much risk.

I posted this back in March of 08
http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=71842#Post71842
when an article showed up in the OCF news:
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/news/story.asp?newsId=2114

My opinion still stands and I have had several discussions with my cancer docs about this as they have had time.

My husband was a heavy Listerine user for years. I, too, have wondered if it was one of several factors in his cancer. Not only does it contain alcohol that you hold in your mouth and swish around, but it makes sense that the drying effects could be a factor. (My husband is a non-smoker and very light drinker). I wonder - as did David - if Listerine affects even those who attribute their cancer to HPV (additively, etc.).

Listerine not only has the alcohol but according to this article from the Ecologist, you are also "swilling a mouthful of chemicals that will give you more to worry about than bad breath"
These additives " makes it a film former, keeping other toxic ingredients on the surface of the mouth for longer."
full article here: Listerine -behind the Label

This is just more than i can compute at the moment...where does this all end?

Charm 2017,

Thanks for the article. Just as you are motivated to protect your son, we're motivated to protect our daughter. We can't change her genetics, but we can help her avoid what might be contributing factors such as Listerene! (She's also been vaccinated with Gardasil).

Sophie H.

I haven't used ACM's(alcohol containing mouthwashes) or drinking alcohol(in my case the occasional beer or wine) in over a year because of my issues with OC. I stopped using both about 7 or 8 months before I was dx'd. I suppose a connection could be assumed in developing OC. But, if ACM helped my cancer take seed what gave me the actual cancer? What was the carcinogen?

I hope everyone who is worried about ACM stays away from drinking alcohol 100%...

I presently use Biotene mouthwash.

It must have worried me because all alcohol and alcohol containing products was the first on my "do not use list"....I just never read any articles about it until today....

What about sushi? I love sushi..is the mercury level and other chemicals too prevalent in sushi/sashimi?

Our world is a cesspool and we all live in it!! Our only alternative is to live very green for future generations and the planet.