This week Matt Hopcraft is joined by Michael McCullough, Professor of Oral Medicine at the Melbourne Dental School to discuss the role of mouthwashes in clinical practice - are they effective, and should we recommend them to patients?

Michael has just co-edited a special supplement on mouthwashes in the International Dental Journal, which forms the basis of the discussion for this episode.

Did you know that the ancient Romans used Portuguese urine as a mouthwash? It was thought that the ammonia would disinfect and whiten the teeth.