Does Mouth Wash Kill Coronavirus? Here is what doctors want you to learn
Previous year, when COVID-19 started infecting people all across the globe, interest started swirling around mouthwash and its potential effects on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The information then came from a meta-analysis published in the journal Function, which posed a theory: Based on mouthwash’s ability to disrupt or damage the outer layer of other enveloped viruses, or viruses that have a lipid membrane, that mouthwash could have a similar effect on SARS-CoV-2—possibly helping to reduce transmission.
Now, mouthwash is back in the news with a new pre-print (and thus, not yet peer-reviewed) study published on the BioRxiv server, analyzing the effect of common mouthwashes on SARS-CoV-2 in laboratory settings. And this time, researchers from Cardiff University in the UK have some evidence that mouthwash—three common mouthwashes, to be exact—can kill the coronavirus in as little as 30 seconds.
Under laboratory conditions, researchers at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine found that two types of mouthwash – Listerine and prescription Chlorhexidine – disrupted the virus within seconds after being diluted to concentrations that would mimic actual use.
The study, published in Pathogens, was conducted using concentrations of the mouthwash and the time it would take to contact tissues to replicate conditions found in the mouth. Study senior author Daniel H. Fine, chair of the school’s Department of Oral Biology, said further studies are needed to test real-life efficacy in humans.
Scientists at Cardiff University found there were “promising signs” that over-the-counter mouthwashes may help to destroy the virus.
The report comes ahead of a clinical trial on Covid-19 on patients at the University Hospital of Wales.
Dr Nick Claydon said the study could lead to mouthwash becoming an important part of people’s routines.
While the research suggests use of mouthwash may help kill the virus in saliva, there is not evidence it could be used as a treatment for coronavirus, as it will not reach the the respiratory tract or the lungs.
Dr Claydon, a specialist periodontologist, said: “If these positive results are reflected in Cardiff University’s clinical trial, CPC-based mouthwashes… could become an important addition to people’s routine, together with hand washing, physical distancing and wearing masks, both now and in the future.”
