Oraldene Medicated Relief for Mouth & Throat Infection

Oraldene is licenced for sale by McNeil products.

Oraldene

Oraldene is a medicated mouthwash which contains Hexetidine (0.1g per 100ml) as its active ingredient. This mouthwash is suitable for children and adults over the age of 6 but advice should be sought if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.Oraldene claims to offer relief from mouth and throat infections. Oraldene is an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal mouthwash. Specific infections that Oraldene can relieve, are listed below :

• mouth ulcers, thrush and bleeding/sore gums (gingivitis)
• bad breath (halitosis)
• throat infections
• before and after dental procedures to prevent infection

Packaging

The cardboard box is silver with a red and blue arrow design present on the front. There is various pieces of product information present on the box and no leaflet inside. Inside the box, there is a clear, round glass bottle with a screw (not child prove) cap. The bottle also offers a silver information label.

Instructions For Use

This mouthwash is of course, for oral use only and should never be swallowed or diluted. It can be used 2-3 times per day. Those over the age of 6 should gargle or rinse the mouth with 15ml (approx 1tbspoon) of the mouthwash before spitting out.

Price

Oraldene is presented in a 200ml sized bottle and is available over the counter in supermarkets and chemists. It is priced around £2.99.

My Thoughts

Many of you will be aware that I suffer badly with dental pain and mouth infections. A combination of pregnancy (3yrs ago) and my fear of dentists (well the injections really) has led to my mouth being in a bad state. Having had a tooth removed and a root treatment done at emergency dentists in the past month, I hoped I would be out of pain. Life is never easy though and for the past week or so, I have suffered badly with inflammed gums and soreness. This has led to one grumpy angel as I barely slept for days. I am now in the process of sorting out a regular dentist but in the mean time, I needed something for the pain,

Visiting my local Boots store a few days ago, I explained my gum issues and the chemist lady had a look. It was quite clear I had an infection and not being able to get to a dentist for antibiotics, she recommended I use a medicated mouthwash. Being on a low income, she prescribed me a bottle and I rushed home to try it. To be honest, I presumed she had given me Corsydol as I had never heard of Oraldene so that came as a surprise. For the past 3days now, I have been using this and am quite happy with the results.

Ewwww...

I started taking this as soon as I got home after having a look at the instructions. It could be used by made people really as there isn't many restrictions. The mouthwash itself is a transparent red colour and very watery in appearance. It can be clearly seen through the bottle and I have no issues with removing the cap. It really should be a child proof cap in my opinion though I keep medicinal type products away from my son anyway.

The scent from the mouthwash will be familiar to most people. It is very much like the pink liquid that sits at the side of the dentist chair. Strong, sweet and minty and very clinical. Not very pleasant but not too bad. That is until it is in your mouth! The first day I tried this, I'm surprised I wasn't immediately put of using it. I first tried measuring some onto a spoon which proved messy as it isn't a thick liquid like medicine is. In the end I judged the right amount and took it from the bottle as I knew I would be the only one in my home using it.

First the mouthwash feels a little cool in my mouth but as soon as I started to swish it around, the sting was unbearable. I thought Corsydol was strong but this is extra strong and nips like a bugger! Whilst there is no guidelines on how long I should keep this in my mouth, I decided 20-30seconds was sufficient and really, I don't think I could have handled much longer! Spitting the liquid out, my mouth felt a little weird. I could tell I hadn't used a mouth wash that was designed to remove plaque etc. The clinical taste present and also the aftertaste confirmed I was using a highly medicinal product meant to kill the nasties in my mouth. My mouth felt a tiny bit numb but not uncomfortably so.

For the first 2 days, I used this 3 times a day and found although it didn't offer me pain relief, it did start to relieve the redness and therefore reduce the soreness associated with my mouth infection. I took ibruprofen regularly to help with the pain. Each time I used this, the taste was the same and the initial sting was still present though the continual sting wasn't as harsh with each use.

Today is the 3rd I have used this mouthwash and I am happy with the way it has performed. My gums aren't as inflammed and sore and I don't need to take ibruprofen throughout the day..just before bed to ensure pain doesn't disturb my sleep anymore. Oraldene effectively kills the bacteria in my mouth from what I can tell and hasn't disturbed my recent dental wounds. I do find the clinical taste lingers a little so not ideal if you want to eat something shortly after using this but I suppose, you wouldn't do that with a regular mouthwash either.

Conclusion

I do feel Oraldene is stronger than Corsydol and more effective. It is a good, short term option to offer some relief from infections until you can get to a dentist and over the course of 3 days, I have only used half the bottle so I have some spare should I need it to heal wounds when I go to the dentist next week. Whilst it does take a few days to soothe the area, it does it well even if it isn't pleasant to take!

Whilst I have mainly used this for my mouth infection, I recently acquired a sore throat from my son (who has just started nursery and catching stuff already). Gargling this as a mouthwash, has provided mild relief from my sore throat though I do feel this is short term and I would prefer a proper linctus or cough syrup for localised relief.

£2.99 is a decent price for an effective product and I recommend it.

Thanks for reading :)