Consumerist
Reader Monique says that she used Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash and woke up with brown spots on her teeth and no sense of taste. How terrifying!
Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash turned my teeth brown! And on top of that, I can't taste anything! I can't believe this stuff is even on the market. My wisdom teeth are coming in painfully, and I am prepping to get them removed next week. So while at Rite Aid last night, I picked up a bottle of Crest Pro-Health mouthwash. I typically use Listerine, but as I said my wisdom teeth are killing me and this Crest CRAP advertises "No Alcohol". Cool.
Except that after using it for ONE day (in the am and then before bed) I woke up today with brown spots on and in between my teeth and I cannot taste anything at all. After being scared almost to the point of tears, I started googling these symptoms. You wouldn't believe how many website there are that are dedicated to this nonsense. Crest should be sued for this!Yikes! We took a look around the internet and found a lot of people complaining about this issue.More people need to be informed about this. On top of that, if you read the comments on the site I am linking, Crest wont even reimburse you for the lousy 4 dollars you spend on this poison. Never mind the expensive dental bills I am going to face whitening and repairing my teeth. Spread the word Consumerist.
Here are some highlights from Amazon.com:
David Case from Flint, MI says:
At the beginning mouthwash was fine. Nice not having the alcohol burn and the breath, that my girlfriend hated. So that was nice.But after extended use for a month it stained in between my teeth brown. It looked terrible and it cost me a one hundred dollar trip to the dentist to scrape that junk off. The dentist advised that it was my mouthwash after hearing it was this Crest mouthwash that I was using. I was surprised that a mouthwash that is suppose to help clean your teeth actually does the opposite.
Another guy says:
This garbage put dingy yellow and brown stains on my teeth, especially near the gums. A dental cleaning failed to get them off. If I had known this mouthwash could cause stains, I would never have used it in the first place. If my next dental cleaning fails to remove the yellow on my teeth, P&G may have a lawsuit on their hands. It's to the point where I don't want to even talk or smile. These Pro Health products should be illegal.
E.Leyden from NY, NY says:
The first thing I noticed was a buildup of white gunk on my tongue. I had just brushed my tongue until it was a nice pink before using the mouthwash, which annoyed me. But it wasn't just gunk — this stuff was solid. It was annoying, but I could live with gunk. I can't live with what else it did, though.Let me put this as simply as possible: This mouthwash destroys your sense of taste. Not just immediately after you spit it out, (it ruins it then too, since water tasted strange when I had a drink before bed) but the next morning as well. I COVERED my eggs in ketchup, yet the normally puckering taste of a mouthful of ketchup was missing. I ate kiwis, pineapple, apple, tea, and nothing. It was like a mouthful of sawdust, or water, or watery sawdust.
About 12 hours after the rinsing, I finally started to regain some taste. I looked up the "active" ingredient in Crest Pro-Health online, called cetylpyridinium chloride. This is what the Materials Safety and Data Sheet has to say about this ingredient: "Toxic if swallowed. Very toxic by inhalation. May cause severe eye irritation. Respiratory and skin irritant," with a large TOXIC warning at the top of the page. I'm sure the concentration in this product is low enough to be harmless in a single dose, but imagine years of using this? Hopefully this won't be on the market long enough for that to be possible.
Joseph Adams says:
Has this happened to you?
This is easily the most disturbing thing I've ever had happen to me. I've never had side-effects like this from ANY over the counter medicine, much less an oral product. My bottom teeth now have visible brown spots between them and I'm worried that they won't come off (or that it'll cost me a lot of money to remove them). I don't think I've ever felt so screwed over like this before... this is simply inexcusable. Crest should not be allowed to have a product like this on the market without a huge sticker warning you about its side-effects.Sadly I don't think people will see this, and they too will get brown garbage in between their teeth. No one googles or looks up mouth wash on Amazon, though I sure wish I did now...
Crest Pro-Health Rinse [Amazon]
Healthy, Beautiful Smiles for Life [Ask Metafilter]
Top Oral Health Products Under $20: Crest Pro-Health Rinse (Read the comments) [Associated Content)
Comments
Disgusting!
wow thanks for the heads up
wow i was going to buy a bottle and i did see the brown spots in my teeth wtf
Don't know about the brown spots, but I can vouch for the loss of taste. It usually only lasts a short while, and get worse the longer I keep the mouthwash in my mouth. It's not a total loss of taste, just the inability to taste salt.
Holy *bleepity bleep*!
How is it we haven't heard this before?!?!
I'll be checking my toothpaste for that ingredient and telling everyone I know to do so as well. How the heck to you NOT change your product when it kills people's sense of taste?
She must have accidentally tried Crest Pro-Heath, the mouthwash that makes you look like you just ate a candy bar.
I have a bottle of this stuff in my bathroom. I use it. I've never had a problem like the one's listed above. However, I think I will pour it out just in case.
Shit I just bought a bottle of the stuff today. Time to return it. Thanks Consumerist!
Dumping the bottle when I get home, I never did mind the burning feeling of Listerine.
Is it possible that the mouthwash works too well, killing off even the beneficial bacteria in the mouth and letting the bad bacteria populations explode?
I'm just curious as to what's really going on here, and whether it's something in the mouthwash itself doing the damage or some other mechanism.
Unbelievable. Thanks for the heads up on this.
Wait... in the South it might make you more attractive... can the stains be differentiated from chewing tobacco stains?
cetylpyridinium chloride
Googling that brings up a lot of sites talking about its use in mouthwashes and its antibacterial properties.
Wikipedia mentions the stains as well :[en.wikipedia.org]
Was this stuff made in China by any chance?
I used a bottle of this stuff a few months ago and, while I never got any brown spots, I definitely know what these people are talking about when it comes to losing the ability to taste. In my case, it lasted about an hour or two and spicy foods seemed to help bring it back (even if they did taste like crap!).
@girly: You gets a +1.
Oh- and one of the sites Google listed on the first page was a study showing the amount of the chemical needed to be beneficial was way higher than in these mouthwashes.
Brown spots in teeth are typically indicative of long-term exposure to excessive fluoride, leading to spots of fluorapatite in the hydroxyapatite enamle. If the spots are indeed due to over-fluoridization of the teeth, no mechanical cleaning process will remove them - the only hope is that the fluoride will leach out over time. While I am loathe to blame the consumer, I would be interested to know whether the people complaining had used the product according to the label instructions.
Damn, this crap has been sitting in my bathroom for a while. We bought it because my girlfriend had a toothache and Listerine was too much for her. Thankfully the bottle is still 95% full! Time to throw it in the garbage.
A wikipedia article linked to Crest's own homepage:
[www.crest.com]
Lol, no lawsuit for you! They already know and explain why: it's got an antimicrobial in it, instead of using harsh chemicals to kill (like Listerine). Basically, they use a medical approach to kill bacteria, instead of a chemical one, and that's why it doesn't burn. However, I know tetracycline can stain kids' teeth brown; maybe this is similar.
So the common sense advice is: if it stains your teeth brown, stop using it! The brown will go away after a while if you brush. Use Listerine instead. Case closed.
Oh, and don't always buy into the MSDS. Read the handling procedures for salt (NaCl). Hilarious stuff. Remember, water is toxic, too.
can't taste anything? thats soooo scarey!!! wtf!
The early incarnation of this mouthwash (about 2 years ago) was very dark blue in color. In fact, it stained my tongue and lips blue after a few uses, so I trashed it. I've noticed that the product is a paler blue color now. How fortunate that I missed out on the brown highlights.
Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) has been used in mouthwashes for a long time. Think Cepacol. I think it's even in Scope. CPC probably isn't the reason for the brown here. All antimicrobials are poisonous, because that's what they do--they kill critters. So don't jump to conclusions about one ingredient, and don't be surprised that a disinfectant is poison. It could be any of a number of ingredients in the mouthwash giving you skankmouth.
@brooksosheffield: stfu
I think I read somewhere that the chemical in it has some effect on the teeth that if you drink coffee or dark colas it holds the stains longer on the teeth. I used it for a little while and did notice that certain foods were hard to taste the next morning.
Back to good old listerine for me!
My dental hygenist recommended the Pro Health because my gums were receding and she said Listerine exascerbates the problem. I noticed the brown on my teeth and assumed it was from coffee, but giving it some thought, I hadn't drank coffee for months.
Next visit (same office, different hygenist), she asked me about my mouthwash and told me that was the cause of the brown stains and I should switch back to Listerine. When I told her what the previous hygenist said, she told me the other woman was wrong.
How are we supposed to make informed decisions if there is so much discrepenancy from the ones we trust as experts.
I have now stopped going to the dentist, stopped brushing my teeth, and use no mouthwash. While the stains are getting worse, at least I now know why! :)
Wow... and this is a product I might have purchased, too...
I can't believe Crest isn't even offering refunds. They should be volunteering to pay for the dental cleanings which result from use of such a terrible product (not to mention the product should be pulled from store shelves immediately). I hope they get hit with a nasty class action over this.
I was going to submit this last week but got lazy.
Here's an article:
[www.associatedcontent.com]
For more horror stories:
[andywibbels.com]
Long story short, they spent millions developing the mouthwash and toothpaste and have no intention of removing it from the market (or at a minimum putting a warning label on it) until they at least recoup their costs.
For me, the brown spots occurred after 4 months of usage (mostly on my bottom 4 front teeth). I used the Pro-Health toothpaste and the Target branded Pro-Health mouthwash. It was scary, it looked like I had cavities on my teeth, except they didn't hurt. I looked like a meth-head without the fun doing drugs part. Fortunately since I've stopped using the product my Tom's toothpaste has helped remove some of the buildup, but I'm definitely going to need my dentist to remove the remainder.
Does anyone know of a good alternative to Glide dental floss? After what they did to me, I want to boycott all Crest products.
I switched from Mentadent toothpaste to Crest ProHealth last year and went to see my dentist for a cleaning a few months later. She told me it was doing damage to my teeth and gumline and I was to throw it out immediately. I never bled so much at a cleaning. The next visit I was back to normal. Crest is some f'd up stuff these days.
I had the same loss of taste sensation when I tried Crest Pro Health Rinse. I stopped using it and it took about a week to come back.
If it's any consolation, taste buds regenerate every 90 days or so. I'm dealing with a similar issue from a medication.
@stuartny:
LOL I hope you are kidding.
just an FYI - Consumer reports had a thing on the pro-health toothpaste saying the active ingredients caused to stain teeth more than the whitening effects of other chemicals/materials in the product.
They already warned many consumers about this garbage.
Odd thing is - when i used it in the past, blue chunks would appear when i rinsed. how foul... it somehow gelatinized (is that a word) when i'd rinse!
hmm... a great idea for a toxicology report, the presentation on BPA went awesome, let see what I could find out about this, thanks consumerist, to the internets!
@rewinditback: I had the blue chunks too!! It was sick!!!
Good thing it's not Mackinaw peach season.
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ANYONE ?
Iv had no problems with Crest Pro Health other then a slight loss of taste for a few hours after rinsing.. Iv had less problems with it then Listerine (which tends to cause issues... The side effect people are seeing with the Crest product is a similar side effect to the prescription Peridex (Chlorhexadine Gluconate) with the staining/some loss of taste ... a professional cleaning *should* remove it...or try baking soda (this worked for me, your milage may vary)
@HootieMac, The Somewhat Less Angry Twins Fan: thanks! I needed one today.
@banks: While I am loathe to blame the consumer, I would be interested to know whether the people complaining had used the product according to the label instructions.
That's an interesting statement given that you follow it up with blaming the consumer. How exactly do you think that they could have misused a product containing no fluoride in such a way that it lead to them getting too much fluoride?
Niiiiice. Way to go, Crest! Next up: Crest Toothpaste with whole sugar grains for extra scrubbing action.
Hey everyone it's Monique the original poster. I am glad to help prevent you all from getting Crest Crud.
@bzr_wzr: you've given me hope! I can't imagine not tasting anything for 90 days. I'll be eating buffalo wings wrapped in chili peppers for dinner. :D
@stuartny: Same EXACT thing happened to me. One hygienist SWORE by this Crest crap and the actual dentist said "Listerine Listerine Listerine."
My boyfriend SWEARS by Crest Pro-Health toothpaste.It uses silicates as an abrasive to get your teeth white. I used one tube of it, but stopped because I didn't like the taste. Afterward I googled it, to see what was being said about it, and I saw the news about the brown teeth (from BOTH products, the toothpaste and the mouthwash). The mouthwash has been sitting in my cupboard, seal unbroken, for over a year.
I want my moneys back, Crest. And I'm dumping this stuff once I get home.
I had the same "blue chunks" when using Crest Pro-Health, plus the "white gunk buildup" on my tongue. Back to Listerine for me.
Ive been using this stuff one or twice a day since it came out awhile ago-no brown stains for me.
Well, I know of a good prank to play on my roommate ...
@terekkincaid: I don't think putting it on their web site protects them from a lawsuit. First of all, the page doesn't mention people being unable to taste anything at all. Secondly, it is not reasonable to expect that everyone who wants to buy their product will go to the web site first.
This information needs to be on the bottle.
I'm dumping mine when I get home. Back to Scope.
I'm also checking my teeth in my compact, right now. Maybe I just haven't noticed spots....
Does this apply to the Pro-Health toothpaste as well?
@axiomatic: Did either have freebies from the company who's product they were recommending?
@deedub113: Me too, it always creeped me out. I've had a bottle of this stuff for a while - I don't use mouthwash regularly, only if I'm having a particularly bad mouth day that brushing doesn't seem to help. I've never had the brown spots, but like others here, I think I may just quit while I'm ahead and toss the stuff out. Creepy...
@noquarter:
Oh, consumerist, the only place where it is physically impossible for a consumer to do any wrong, to the extent that even asking the question invokes chin-quivering rage. Seriously, is it beyond the realm of possibility for people to have used the product in a non-label manner? It took me a week of using my current mouthwash twice a day before I noticed that the label specified once a day.
I don't trust any of these big name chemical mouthwashes or toothpastes. There are so many bad things in them, from the Lauryl Sulfates to the Sodium Saccharines.
Do you really think these companies care about your health? If they did, no toothpaste would have fluoride in it.