Myntz! Breath Mints

Greg Bernhardt

I've started buying these breath mints at Trader Joes. They advertise that taking these mints neutralizes mouth acid. Below you can find the ingredients. Is this just advertising, or worthwhile?

http://www.drugstore.com/qxp141832_3...mynt_blast.htm

Poop-Loops

Doesn't magnesium get added to all sorts of anti-acids like Tums or something? I would assume they just give you some weak base to counteract the weak acid in your mouth.

The first question is, is mouth acid bad? There is a lot of stuff going on in your mouth, and you can't say it's all bad. Lots of good bacteria and stuff.

Ivan Seeking

Potassium Bicarbonate is listed, which is a buffering agent - an antacid.

To me, the real question is the efficacy of this claim:

Has it been shown that using antacids to neutralize the pH in saliva is effective in reducing tooth decay?

hypatia

People in good health have a oral ph of around 6, and of course its the first step in digestion, so you really would not want it lower then 5.
Most bacterium consumes sugars and excretes acid into your mouth, which is what damages your teeth and causes decay. So lowering the ph, is a good thing. But it can also be done with a rinse of fresh water.

turbo

Hy, you may have that backward. Rinsing or brushing your teeth should reduce the acidity of your mouth (raise the pH). The mints in question would raise the pH in your mouth, if they worked as advertised.

Think of the stuff that many people eat, and I think you'll come up with a diet that is relatively acidic, be it from fruits, berries, condiments, juices, soft drinks etc. Many salad dressings, mayonnaise, etc have a vinegar base, and certainly lots of canned foods have added citric acid (I think it is added to preserve color in some cases). Popping mints with buffers in them may or may not be a good idea. It certainly would not change my physiology that much, since I make and eat pickles, pickled peppers, and chili relishes with a vinegar base, and love mustards, too. Those little mints wouldn't stand a chance against such a gustatory onslaught.

hypatia

Yes, I noticed the error, but the edit button was already gone. You will half to excuse me, I am beyond tired today.

turbo

Sleep well, and sin no more...

Ivan Seeking

Also noteworthy perhaps is that is one doesn't want to sit and eat antacids all day. It is possible to cause serious problems. Tsu once encountered an ER patient who died from an overdose of antacids. As I understood the situation, he was eating the things like candy and actually managed skew his electrolytes to the point where he had a heart attack. So this is not something to be taken lightly.

Moonbear

One should also be careful with something that alters pH in either the mouth or stomach if they are on any sort of medication. The coatings on a lot of pills are designed to be resistant to the pH and enzymes in the mouth, but then dissolve in proper places for most effective absorption of the medicine...either the stomach or small intestine. If you start tinkering with pH of those sites, not only can you mess up digestion, you might have your pills dissolving in the wrong part of your body and not being absorbed properly to be effective.

turbo

I knew that, Moonie, but had not taken that into consideration in this situation. Like my garden (hard-learned lesson!) humans can suffer from nutrient (and medicine) uptake deficiencies if pH levels are upset.