Macleans Total Health Mouthrinse

Mouth care is not a very exciting subject. That doesn't mean it's not important, of course, but unless you're being paid for appearing in a commercial for toothpaste, I really doubt you record yourself talking about how amazing your teeth feel in the morning. Still, Macleans has a new (or so it says on the bottle) mouthwash out, and since I was looking for a new bottle of the stuff anyway I thought I might as well give this a go. For some reason best known to themselves, Macleans actually call this "mouthrinse", but I can't see that there's any difference. I picked it up in Poundland, of all places, so if you're more awake than I am right now, you should be able to work out for yourself how much it cost.

One other problem with mouthwash is that the names that companies give to their brands are so silly. In this case, that means we get "Total Health" plastered on the front of the bottle. And what, pray, does that mean? That if you use it, you'll never again get the slightest sniffle? Well, I used it this morning and I have a sniffle, so can I claim my money back? The subtitle is "Tingling Mint", which is almost as ridiculous. Really, all we want to know is that has enough oomph to do so. If singing your own praises is so important, I don't know why Macleans didn't just call it "The Great and Powerful Mouthwash!!!" (with three exclamation marks, yes) and have done with it. Still, we live in a world where that's not the case, and I'm afraid we'll just have to put up with it. Life's not fair, folks.

The bottle holds 500 ml, as they usually do, and is of what seems to be moderately strong plastic. The cap feels rather less secure than those you get with some brands (eg Listerine), though – apart from breaking the initial seal, all you do is screw it on and off; there's no reassuring click to make you certain that you've closed the lid tightly and the liquid isn't going to leak all over your carefully packed luggage. A minor point perhaps, but I think I'd choose another product to take on holiday. The mouthwash (or mouthrinse, I know, I know) itself is a fairly pleasant deep turquoise; given that the vast majority of mouthwashes are mint flavour, they're virtually all green or blue or some mixture thereof, so this is hardly startling.

Time to go around the back and read the label. (The things I do for these reviews!) Disappointingly, it's not obvious where the product is made, ot how recyclable the bottle and cap might be. As you would expect, this stuff contains an alcohol-based antibacterial formula of some sort; as with cosmetics, the actual way these things work is only explained vaguely: it's a Patented Smart Shield System With Annoying Initial Capitalisation, Apparently. I'm not sure what accounts for the "tingling" bit of "tingling mint", but there's no carbon dioxide in the ingredients list. Despite that, even very mild shaking does show that this mouthwash bubbles a little. I find that very slightly off-putting, actually, as it makes it look like bubble bath, and I really don't want to be swilling *that* stuff around my mouth!

Macleans has clearly been trying a bit of one-upmanship with its usage directions. It all starts out much as you would expect, in that you pour the mouthrinse into the cap and tip it into your mouth from there. However, where most rival brands only advise swilling it around for 30 seconds, this one ratchets that up to a full 60! I can hear the gasps of astonishment from here, you know. It's reasonably tasty (in a dentisty, minty-fresh way) and although the claimed tingliness is pretty subtle it *is* there. Since you're supposed to use this stuff directly after brushing your teeth, your mouth will probably taste of mint anyway – unless you're one of those strange people who seeks out avocado-flavour toothpaste or something – and so exactly what the flavour of this one might be is hard to ascertain.

Most importantly, though, does Macleans Total Health mouthrinse actually do its job? Well, it's hard to tell without having a tame dentist on hand to give you a checkup twice a day, and if you happen to have one of those then do let the NHS know; they could do with them. But I certainly found that it made my teeth *feel* pretty clean, albeit not massively more so than the Listerine mouthwash I'd been using immediately previously. I quite like the gentle tingling, and for some people the fact that it's okay for use by children (of six and up) will be an important consideration, plus of course there's that price. I don't think I could say that I was bowled over by this product's brilliance, and I doubt I'd buy it at twice the price, but it seems to do the job it was made to do pretty nicely, and so I see no reason to mark it lower than four stars.