People who don’t floss their teeth may get the same benefit from regularly rinsing their mouth with the antiseptic Listerine, according to recent study findings.

However, these results should not encourage people to abandon flossing, and, ideally, people should brush, floss and use Listerine, a study author told Reuters Health.

Rinsing with Listerine is “another way to improve oral health,” said Christine Charles, director of oral care at Pfizer, which sells Listerine. “We definitely don’t want people to toss the floss.”

However, she noted that, realistically, most people do not floss. Indeed, in a recent survey of 300 dentists, 90 percent said that their patients do not floss every day, the recommended regimen to protect mouths from the plaque that can cause gum disease.

In one recent study, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, Charles and her colleagues found that, among 326 people who brushed and either flossed or rinsed with Listerine, Listerine-users showed the same improvements in plaque and gum inflammation called gingivitis as flossers. All participants had mild to moderate gingivitis at the outset of the study.

In another, similarly designed study published in the American Journal of Dentistry, Charles and her team found that, among 301 participants, Listerine-users showed the same improvements in gingivitis as flossers, and an even greater reduction in plaque after 3 and 6 months of use.

In both studies, flossers and Listerine-users had healthier teeth than people who brushed and rinsed with an inactive solution.

In an interview, Charles said that Listerine contains essential oils that get between teeth and kill the germs that brushing does not reach. Listerine works best when it follows brushing and flossing, she said, which break up sheets of bacteria on teeth so that Listerine can penetrate and kill even more germs.

Ideally, people should keep their teeth clean by brushing regularly, flossing once per day and rinsing with Listerine twice daily, Charles said.

However, for people who don’t floss and never will, recent studies suggest that Listerine may be a “fairly easily done, pleasant way of helping” keep teeth clean, Charles said.

In April, Pfizer received approval from the American Dental Association to publicize the fact that Listerine may work as well as dental floss to consumers, and plans to begin with television advertisements.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dental Association, March 2003.