Stop your bad breath, today!

Stop your bad breath, today!

Bad breath is a number one preoccupation from young lovers to business people. A study showed that 59% of men and 70% of women said they wouldn’t go on a date with someone who has bad breath. Nobody wants to suffer from bad breath and live to witness it. It’s an embarrassing and debilitating factor in any social arena.

People with bad breath may be surprised to learn the problem can have many causes. This will depend on a person’s dental health, diet, and a variety of other factors. Fortunately, most bad breath is easily treated, so on that note let’s look at what might be causing your bad breath.

1. Dry Mouth

Decreased saliva production will reduce the cleansing mechanism of the mouth and is a major cause of bad breath. To restore your mouth’s cleansing mechanism it is believed a diet of fruit and vegetables will promote increase saliva. In additions consumption of herbal teas such as chamomile, green tea, and mint might also stimulate production of saliva.

2. Smoking & Excess Alcohol Consumption

Behaviours such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption on a daily basis  can cause bad breath. Just another reason to quit these bad habits! Both smoking and excess alcohol consumption leave you with a strong odour in your mouth that is not appreciated by others.

3. Unclean Dentures

Dentures are just like real teeth and need to be brushed or cleaned regularly to remove bacteria that can cause bad breath.

4. Post Nasal Drip

The mucus that drips from the nose to the mouth can coat the tongue with bacteria. This can cause bad breath. An Ear, Nose and Throat doctor can help resolve this problem.

5. Sinus Infection/Allergies

The sinuses often produce more odour causing mucus that can get caught in the throat. So when spring is on its way, make sure to stock up on allergy medication. It can save you a lot of embarrassment!

6. Coated/White tongue

The hair on the tongue will attract bacteria and food particles that build up over time. Every morning, look in the mirror and scrape all of the white build-up off your tongue. Not only will it smell better, but it will feel cleaner too.

7. Medications

Certain medicines, such as antidepressant, that are taken to treat various illnesses can react with saliva and lead to bad breath. There are special toothpastes that can handle the dry mouth caused by medications. BreezeCare and Biotène are two brands you can purchase to help with dry mouth caused by medications.

8. Food Stuck in Teeth

Food particles in-between the teeth attract bacteria when they start to decay. Flossing should be a daily activity.

9. Tonsil Stones/Tonsilloliths

These are typically lumps of calcified material that can cause bad breath. A visit to your GP with sort this out for you.

10. Strong Flavored Foods

Foods with strong flavours like garlic or onions can react with the saliva in the mouth leaving your with bad breath. Carr mints with you for after meals and lay off the garlic.

11. Dieting

Certain diets with high protein foods or dairy products can lead to high levels of amino acids in the stomach and may cause bad breath. A balanced diet can help manage this.

12. Skipping Breakfast

Food eaten in the morning helps increase saliva production in the mouth and will help remove odour causing bacteria from the tongue.

13. Mouth Breathing

Breathing through the mouth regularly will dry out the mouth because there is little to no saliva production to cleanse the tongue.

14. Ongoing Illness

Certain illnesses that are ongoing or untreated, may be causing a person’s bad breath.

Regardless of cause, the bad smell almost always originates in the mouth and not the stomach. The biggest challenge  is to determine if we have a bad breath as we tend to be subjective with ourselves. One study showed that we tend to rate our smell subjectively, according to how bad we thought the smell was going to be. There is one simple way to get an objective answer even if a bit awkward – ask a friend. Hey, what are friends for, right?

The causes of bad breath typically have a simple treatment available. Basic dental hygiene will prevent the occurrence of bad breath for a lot of people.

In the video below, Mel Rosenberg outlines the basics of bad breath — and what you can do when it strikes you.