I just watched the piece about Crest Pro Health Mouthwash staining teeth on NBC’s Today Show. The report was great and will certainly do some good in warning people about the possible negative side effects of the product. What really ruffled my feathers the most were some of the soundbites from Proctor & Gamble’s spokesperson, the overly smug dental researcher Dr. Robert Gerlach (following each quote is my commentary):
“The question really isn’t ‘Should there be a warning?’ The question is ‘What’s the need?’ The overwhelming majority of people don’t experience these problems at all.
The need, Dr. Gerlach, is so people will know what’s going on when Crest Pro Health mouthwash stains their teeth and causes them to lose their sense of taste. They won’t have to do their own research to discover that it’s the mouthwash they’re using. As for the overwhelming majority of people not experiencing these problems, I question the accuracy of the data: How many people is this happening to who are unaware that their mouthwash is causing the problem? How many people simply stop using the product and don’t file a complaint? Is Proctor & Gamble giving us accurate data?
When asked, “For people who feel they’re misled because there are some side effects they didn’t know about, what do you say to that?”
We have to take everything we read on the Web with a grain of salt. We treat all of our consumer reports very seriously, whether they’re on the Web or elsewhere. Any rinse that fights plaque and gingivitis may cause these side effects in a small number of users.
Dr. Gerlach and Proctor & Gamble would prefer it if they could control all the data. Because they can’t censor blogs, the truth is going to get out despite their best efforts to cover it up. Gerlach wants consumers to take everything they read about Crest Pro Health Mouthwash on the Web with a grain of salt when, in fact, consumers need to take everything that Gerlach and Proctor & Gamble say about their product with a huge block of salt. They’re the ones who can’t be trusted.
Gerlach paraphrased by interviewer: “He says judging by calls to P&G’s customer center, only a fraction of 1% report any problems.”
I filed my complain online. Are they counting only the phone calls?
This is a product that’s been very safe and effective, used by millions of people. If consumers are experiencing problems with our products, whether it’s stain or taste or anything else, they’ll call us. Wouldn’t you?
At this point, I wanted to punch the TV. Gerlach sounded so smug. P&G, wake up! Do the right thing. Stick a warning on the bottle just like you have a warning on your stannous (stain us) fluoride toothpaste. That way, if people do experience problems, they can tell immediately from reading the label what’s going on. In addition, as one of the consumers interviewed for this piece stated, a warning label would empower consumers with the information they need to make a well-informed decision.
One last thing – these stains aren’t as easy to remove as P&G would like you to think.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
people need to brush and floss to keep staining at a minimum, but as usaul, everyone is looking for a quick fix and is not willing to take responsibility. the rinse works because it sticks to teeth and kills bacteria, which then can stain the teeth. proper oral hygeine will minimize this effect. this certainly is not recall worthy, and yes, a side effect should list staining.
What?! “Proper oral hygeine will minimize this effect?” I was performing proper oral hygeine, and the mouthwash stained my teeth. Do you work for Proctor & Gamble?
I bought the Crest Pro Health in a package with Crest white strips a few months ago. After a few weeks, I noticed a brown between my lower teeth.
I did not make the connection until TODAY! I have been flossing aggressively to get that brown out and I’m good about brushing etc.. so I didn’t know what was causing this unless it was something I was eating.
I was shocked by the piece on the Today Show and I went and checked the mouthwash in my cabinet and sure enough – it was Crest ProHealth. How do we complain? I am stunned by Crest’s smug response about not believing what you hear on the web.
Thanks!
Here’s info from the Today Show website about how/where to file a complaint:
If you have questions/complaints about Crest Pro Health Rinse, go to: http://www.crestprohealth.com. If you have experienced an adverse reaction to Crest Pro Health Rinse, you can file a complaint with the FDA by calling 1-800-FDA-1088 or going to http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm.
Joe, great post. I read a news article on the USAToday website where a Crest rep was responding to the story. She said that there was no need to put a warning on the bottle regarding possible side effects, because why scare consumers away from using a product that is going to help them? That just PISSED ME OFF. Here’s a novel idea, Crest: Why not just give the consumers the info they need and then let THEM make the decision? When I first starting getting stains, I read the info on the bottle and there was not a thing mentioned about staining, so I didn’t suspect the rinse. So I kept taking it, and the stains got even worse. And they are NASTY to remove — some of my stains (like the stains on bonding) didn’t even come off.
Also, I’m really doubtful about Gerlach’s claim that “99.99% of consumers have not complained”. Why doesn’t he just say how many complaints they’ve had? 99.99% of 100 million bottles sold is about 10,000 — so have they had 10,000 complaints? Also, I would just point out that many people probably haven’t complained because they haven’t figured out what is causing their staining and/or loss of taste. That Gerlach was a smug bastard, and sent him an email and gave him a piece of my mind.
Sounds like to me that like always people need to make excuses about whatever they can to make it no look like their fault, indeed if you have good oral hygiene you can prevent staining….grow up people! There are a lot of products that do not list all of the “side effect” but you do not bitch about them. Plus if all “side effects” were listed would we use anything?
I have always been commented on my smile and how nice my teeth are. Over the last few months I have been using Crest Pro-Health Rinse. I recently noticed that I had brown spots between my front lower teeth. I felt so bad because I brush at least twice a day and floss. I was looking for reasons online that this would be happening to my teeth … I was thinking for sure I was going to get some sort of lecture from my dentist next week … then I discovered all of these complaints about Crest Pro-Health Rinse … and now I think I have an answer. Thank you!
to the people who say its no big deal… try having these nasty brown spots when you were trying to HELP your teeth… shame on P & G im boycotting their products.. i dont care if the stains are ‘intentional’ ‘accidental’ or ‘only .000001% of the people said theres a problem” if a MOUTHRINSE causes BROWN SPOTS people using it have a right to know
I have called 1-800-747-8702 over & over (P&G Crest white strips) & it says all circuits busy. They don’t pick up on purpose because we consumers are trying to complain about their product that does not do what it claims & in addition, hurts my teeth.
ALSO, when you communicate by email, it says in response”The email address you provided is already in the database. Use the browser Back button to return to the previous page to correct these problems” Being in the database or not is an irrelevant response. I was trying to send them an email for a refund for a faulty product they sold me.
Thanks, Barbara… Yes, and in the meantime, I still see this stuff crowding my grocery store shelves with no warning label. Every time I see those bottles of blue, I feel insulted.
I am offended by those that say “if you have good oral hygiene you can prevent staining”. I have been seeing my dentist at least twice a year for 30 years, and currently see my dentist every three months. My hygienist always comments on my remarkable oral hygiene. I floss daily, brush at least twice a day using an electronic toothbrush, (replace the head every 3 months), use plaque removers, fluoride toothpastes, brush my tongue, etc, etc. After my last dentist visit 3 months ago I also started using Crest Pro-Health Rinse, which is when I started to notice brown staining of my teeth. Luckily, most, but not all, of the stains have been removed by my hygienist with difficulty. I didn’t put two and two together until my hygienist mentioned the likely cause. Those who are so quick to pass judgment should come and observe my oral hygiene routine for a day! This product is touted as safe, but it will be causing problems for years if people aren’t warned!
I am on my third bottle of Crest Pro-Health Rinse and up until now it seemed fine but with this bottle I have noticed that after I rinse my mouth my tongue is numb and the inside skin of my lips is rough like it got burned with a hot liquid. I wake up in the morning with skin that has peeled of my lips. I am now throwing out my Crest Pro-Health toothpaste and rinse that I have been using. There must be some ingredient that can’t be too great to be putting in your mouth. Hopefully the Proctor & Gamble Company will alert the public to any problem.
I also have had problems stemming from the use of Crest Pro Health rinse. The inside of my mouth had a spot that peeled and felt like a burn but thankfully that went away. I also developed spots in my mouth that when looked at don’t look any different than the rest of my mouth but with my tongue I can feel the texture is different..rough..like lots of little bumps. I see that others have also had this effect and I would just like to know if anyone could tell me how long it took for these to go away once you stopped using the pro health rinse. I am freaking out over this so any info you could give would be tremendously appreciated.
Thank you..you can email me at momvb2four@bellsouth.net
I just posted earlier but wanted to add this link..what a OUTRAGE that crest is marketing this stuff without any warnings about what could happen to some people from using it. Even if it only happened to 1 person…it would be 1 too many. I agree with what most people are saying on the blogs in that I am sure there are much more people experiencing problem with this but they just haven’t attributed it to the rinse. I would have never even thought of that when my mouth problems began. I was just lucky that one of the blogs regarding this popped up when I was doing a search to try to figure out what was going on in my normally very healthy mouth. THink about all the people, many elderly, who don’t use computers and would never even know this information. I will NEVER buy anything from Crest again due to this and they have been the only brand I ever bought prior to this incident. What a disgrace. http://www.joponline.org/doi/abs/10.1902/jop.2006.050141
THANK YOU for speaking up, as well! I started using Crest’s Pro-Health products roughly two weeks ago, because I had run out of my Colgate Total (which I’ll be going back to straight away!).
A couple of days ago, I actually had an episode of my tongue swelling, just hours after I brushed/flossed/rinsed. THEN I began to ‘regurgitate’ my tastebuds (they didn’t actually come from my stomach, but my esophagus rejected swallowing them as they slipped down my throat) which began to slough off in large quantities. I didn’t even know I had that many taste buds to lose! I was terrified by this, as I thought originally I might have a throat/stomach problem. These run in my family. Thank god, my doctor was smart enough to know what it was NOT, and now that I know what I know about these horrifically under-warning-labeled products, I will sleep better tonight. All in all, I have had four episodes of this tongue swelling/taste bud sloughing. My doctor hinted that this might be actionable, and I’ve consulted an attorney. Just tonight I fired off a very angry complaint to the company.
Unfortunately, however, these companies don’t really operate for our health- they operate for health, yes, but only for their pocketbooks.
I am so glad that people are speaking up and spreading the word about these awful products. ‘We the people’ are not as stupid as they would like to think.
THANK YOU!
–Rhiana
I too got brown stains on my teeth due to Crest Pro-”Health” Night mouthwash. It horrified me and it did not immediately occur to me that this was due to the mouthwash until my husband suggested it. Internet searches and a dentist visit later confirmed this! I am so disappointed by this and want to tell everyone how horrible it is.
I just realized that this was written in May of 2008!! I wish I had researched before I purchased my bottle of Crest Pro Health Mouthwash. It was only by accident that I found complaints online regarding Crest Pro Health mouthwash that I realized that these brown spots were from the mouthwash I was using! I was at the dentist for a cleaning 7 months ago and have flossed once a day and brushed twice a day since then. I must admit that prior to this dentist visit I did not floss every day but still had a good report at the dentist office. I didn’t have ANY brown spots on my teeth during my less regular flossing. If I had known that a mouthwash would make brown places on my teeth, then I would simply have chosen a different mouth wash. But I guess they know that then don’t they! Now I do not trust the whole Crest line! There are too many other choices out there. I will find out how hard it is to get these stains off my teeth next week when I go to the dentist. BTW- I realize that using flouride will make your teeth less white, but the brown decay looking spots that Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash makes on your teeth is absolutely ridiculous!
Around the time I began using Crest Pro-Health toothpaste, I began experiencing occasional swelling in my lips and tongue. One occurrence was my lower lip only, another was upper lip only, one was right half of tongue only, one was left half of tongue only. The swelling occurred usually mid-morning and lasted 2-24 hours. A couple of times the swelling was sufficient to affect my speech. The swelling has happened about 7-8 times in the past 6 months, and does not occur when I do not use Crest Pro-Health. If anyone else has these symptoms, please let me know at bucherron@yahoo.com.
I am 47, excellent teeth, and my dentist recommended the Crest night rinse during a routine clean 3 weeks ago. She told me to get the clear formula because the colored dyes can stain at night. I did as told. 3 weeks later, my wife commented on brown spots on my teeth when I smiled. When I looked, I couldn’t believe it. Was it a new tea? Was it too much red wine? Was my tooth paste expired? Did I not replace my electric brush head when I supposed to? Did my dentist do something 3 weeks ago? Now I know the answer. Shame on P&G for not listing this potential side-effect on the bottle. I, too, will boycott Crest product – there are plenty of other options. I did send P&G an email – I’m anxious to see if they respond. Thanks to everyone for sharing.
I have been using Crest ProHealth mouth rinse for about 3 weeks and I’ve noticed my tongue is now brown not my entire tongue but the top surface that comes in contact with the roof of my mouth. I called P&G and they are sending me a refund but they told me they had never heard of someones tongue turning brown… But I’m finding that response wasn’t entirely true!! I am not using it ever again!!!
Allen
FUCK CREST PRO HEALTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCKING PISSS ME OFFFFFFFFFFF
I used Crest Pro Health only once before going to bed and currently cannot taste anything except the aftertaste of the mouthwash and it doesn’t matter what I eat it will not go away. And if that isn’t bad enough the aftertaste is making me feel nauseated. The shit is nasty!