Early Mouthwash

How early could we reasonably invent mouthwash?

Listerine's active ingredients are all natural: menthol (peppermint, mint), thymol (thyme), methyl salicylate (wintergreens), eucalyptol (eucalyptus, basil, rosemary, and several other spices), and ethanol. All of the ingredients can be found pretty much across the planet.

Of course, you need to have a society that's interested in oral hygiene, but thats not too unreasonable. Sure, most humans throughout history didn't think too much about bad breath, but mouthwash does help keep teeth healthy, as well, and people have long cared about at least good looking teeth.
 
A few links for medieval tooth care:

This one's cool because the guy tried each one.
http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/teeth.html

http://home.uchicago.edu/~atterlep/Misc/tooth.htm


From looking at these, i'd guess that a Listerine-like-liquid would have been possible, or even probable, in the later 1500s. Maybe the Romans or Ancient Greeks could have made something?

This is close:
Trotula, 11th Century, On Women's Cosmetics (book 3)
"The woman should wash her mouth after dinner with very good wine. Then she ought to dry [her teeth] very well and wipe [them] with a new white cloth. Finally, let her chew each day fennel or lovage or parsley, which is better to chew because it gives off a good smell and cleans good gums and makes the teeth very white."
 
Mouthwashes before the introduction of high-proof alcohol were usually wine-based. No rteason to assume that the invention is as late as its doicumentation, which would put it in the middle ages. Most likely, they were used in classical antiquity and probably much earlier.

Listerine would have to wait until the 18th century, though - no mass market before then outside of China.
 
One of the mistresses of Louis XIV mainly used perfume to battle his halitosis IIRC. Earlier effective mouthwash might reduce his problems, resulting in a reduced use of perfume at Versailles ... and the French court set many standards still in use today.
 
One of the mistresses of Louis XIV mainly used perfume to battle his halitosis IIRC. Earlier effective mouthwash might reduce his problems, resulting in a reduced use of perfume at Versailles ... and the French court set many standards still in use today.

In his case I'm afraid the problem was *well* beyond listerine.

The point to mouthwashes, incidentally, is perfume. They sell the stuff as antibacterial, but the benefits are usually trivial. What they really do is make your breath smell good.
 
Hmmm...a butterfly from this could be that someone who died from a really bad mouth infection (not pulling a rotten tooth can lead to blood infection, at least according to "American Gods") survives to affect history.

Any candidates?
 
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