But Boots pharmacist suggested that I buy exclusively this one for £6.00
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English is not my native language but even I can see the active Ingredient is the same (Chlorhexidine Digluconate 0.2%).
I trust the Boots licenced pharmacist will have my best interests at heart and surely is not trying to sell me the dearest version they have only to generate more money, but why should I spend 3.5 times as much for the same product?
Even 10 years ago I was predicting that Boots (and WH Smiths*) would be the next High Street chains to go bust - but I have been proved wrong. Boots had massive High Street competition from stores like Super Drug etc. and much more competition from the discounters (Home Bargains etc.) in retail parks.
*Locally WH Smith had a badly lit big store with lots of stock but with hardly anyone at the tills paying for anything :)
Ethanol 7% v/v, Macrogolglycerol Hydroxystearate, Sorbitol, Peppermint Oil and Water. Macrogolglycerol Hydroxystearate may cause skin reactions. Chlorhexidine Digluconate 0.2% w/v
The Eugenol is "clove smell".
Linalool is an antimicrobial agent, and an aroma compound ("fruity").
The more expensive product, relies upon ethanol for "prompt effect". The ethanol will kill bacteria, a little bit. The Chlorohexidine may last a bit longer.
The Macrogolglycerol Hydroxystearate is the Castor Oil.
Neither product is intended to be swallowed. If you do so, the flora in your digestive tract will be killed, and there could be side effects similar to swallowing fairy liquid (which you should not do either!).
the contraindications say that neither product is a toy.
A pharmacist has a background in chemistry. The question you ask the pharmacist is "which is more efficacious for my condition". You want to know if they are functionally different. The price is a decision you can make, once you hear how they different from a performance perspective.
Personally, I don't think anything in those bottles lasts that long in the mouth. Some mouth washes that use plant extracts, the extract stays in your mouth for a while (absorbed by tissues), and that helps the effect last a bit longer, but in terms of "reducing bacteria to zero", that depends on your dental health as much as anything. An abscess for example, would only repopulate the mouth pretty quickly. Water soluble active ingredients, the saliva in your mouth removes the material relatively quickly. Perhaps this is why some of the other ingredients are present, to make the stuff "stick around" in your mouth.
And if you used the material too frequently, the contraindications listed, may have something to say about that. Cheek cells are constantly being eroded from the inside of the mouth, but you don't want to make the insides of your mouth raw, from chemicals.
Summary: When you go to the pharmacist, what do you ask ?
1) I have "X" condition. What do you recommend as a treatment ? The answer could be a prescription-only drug, or an over-the-counter medicine.
2) I have these two bottles here. One costs £1.75, one costs £6.00. Which is more effective at treating condition "X" ?
Doctors use the pharmaceutical index to prescribe drugs (we had a copy at home). Pharmaceutical indexes are printed yearly.
A pharmacist uses the same book (the Index), but the pharmacist also knows the chemistry, and what the ingredients are, without looking them up like I just did :-) The pharmacist would know that linalool is an antimicrobial.
When you make a water-based material for human consumption, the bottle itself has to be protected from "picking up bacteria". Thus, some things added to commercial preparations, are not added to treat "you", they keep the contents fresh and bacteria free. For the second compound, the ethanol might help a bit in that regard. Even multi-serving vaccine vials are like that - they used to have thiomersal added to "preserve freshness". That's because the septum on the vial, is punctured repeatedly as "servings" are taken out, one needles worth at a time.
The reason the Chlorhexidine Digluconate is only 0.2%, that is a compromise regarding your ability to spit out the product. A certain amount of the active ingredient is going to go into your stomach regardless of the care you take during application. If the bottle contents were too strong, then everyone would have digestive upset from incidental ingestion.
Corsodyl is a GlaxoSmithKline product (now spun off into a new company called Haleon).
Boots 'the chemist' are just the retailer. If there was a Boots own-brand version they would probably push that.
This stuff can make your tongue develop a funny surface if used too often, but it does seem to leave teeth feeling clean and smoother compared to simply using normal toothpaste
Our local one had a David Platt look alike who used to irritatingly ask, "Do you want any discounted chocolate?" with every purchase. They started closing early (so impossible to visit after work) and on Sundays and cut down on the range of magazines that they stocked (I used to buy specific Electronics ones), so I ended up not going any more. This seems to be the case with most of the people I know. I think it is only that the Post-Office counter is in there that has let them carry on trading at all.
I don't know what on earth W H Smith have/had* done with their lighting in St Ann's Centre in Harrow. It's a bad retrofit of the existing fluorescent tubes with LED replacements that are dim & cold white reflecting on a bright blue interior. Severe eye-strain and an immediate headache trying to focus and read things.
Mind you that was 3 years ago, it may have been updated since. I apparently have not been out much ...
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