Strong, White Teeth and Minty Fresh Breath with Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse

Ever since I discovered the Starbucks Caramel White Mocha, I’ve been drinking more coffee than usual. And while I love the caffeine jolt, one thing I could do without is the staining of my teeth. A few weeks ago I was looking in the mirror and thought to myself, “Woah! Did my teeth always look like that?” It seemed like they had gradually become more yellow than what I remembered them to be. Fortunately, I had just gotten a sample of the new Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse.

Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse is like the other Listerine products in that it still has great germ killing power. What makes it different is the active ingredient – sodium fluoride- which is used to help prevent cavities and tooth decay. It also has hydrogen peroxide as an ingredient, which helps with whitening.

The actual rinse is a clear liquid that has a mild minty scent.  When you rinse with it, it doesn’t have that strong burn from mouthwashes that may have more alcohol. A side effect, which I’m not sure they planned, is that the hydrogen peroxide bubbles keep bubbling after your initial spit, so when you smile at yourself in the mirror, you see white stuff in between your teeth. The first time I saw this, and subsequent times as well, it prompted me to floss. So definitely the more I rinsed with Listerine Whitening, the more I flossed (which I’m sure my dentist will be very happy about. There’s a slight hydrogen peroxide mixed with mint aftertaste that is similar to what other products using hydrogen peroxide taste like.

For Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse, you only need to swish 2 teaspoons of mouthwash versus 4 teaspoons for another mouthwash I have. But you also have to swish it for longer (1 minute instead of 30 seconds.) The only hiccup I had with this product is that if you use the Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse mouthwash, they recommend that you don’t eat or drink for 30 minutes afterwards. On the weekends, I typically sleep in so when I get around to brushing my teeth, I’m actually sort of hungry and want to eat something right away which I can’t do if they want me to wait after I rinse.  I *think* they make you wait so the fluoride that the mouthwash provides doesn’t get washed away. One easy fix to this is to simply use the mouthwash after eating.

I’ve been using the product for about 3 weeks now. I wish I could say I was diligent about rinsing with it twice a day every day, but I wasn’t. Sometimes I forgot and sometimes I was hungry and then forgot. I mention that because your results will probably be different than mine if you use it more regularly. Here are before and after shots of my smile. (Side note: It’s totally freaky looking at zoomed in pictures of your face. Eek!)

I’m not sure if the difference in color conveys that well in these photos, but I definitely feel like my smile is white and brighter. Also, it’s difficult for me to measure the strength of my enamel, but I’m going to the dentist on Monday, so they’ll let me know if the spot anything amiss in my mouth.

Ultimately, I think this product makes  a lot of sense in the Listerining Whitening product line. It effectively killed my bad breath germs, leaving me with minty-fresh breath. It also appeared to improve the whiteness of my teeth. If you’d like to try it out yourself, Listerine Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse is available now in your food, drug and mass merchandise stores.

Disclaimer: No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did recieve a sample of Listeringe Whitening plus Restoring Fluoride Rinse to use and test for the purposes of writing this review. This did not affect my opinion of the product. Also, I am not a medical professional. All statements made in this post are my experiences only and I make no guarantee for how this product will work  for you. Please verify any claims made by the manufacturer directly with them.