Coping With Bad Breath

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is a concern for many people. It is not pleasant to stand near someone who has a foul smelling breath, especially when you do not want to give offence by walking away because you cannot stand the stench.

Personally, I dread it when I stand or sit next to someone who has bad breath because there is often no way of escape and I just have to stand or sit there and suffer in silence. One persons quick curry is another persons discomfort when that person breathes garlic to all in the close vicinity of his or her breath.

There is no one single cause of bad breath. It is most often linked to a build up of bacteria on the food which is left in the mouth and between the teeth. It is the sulphur compounds released by these bacteria which causes the breath to smell unpleasant. Obviously the solution is to remove these particles of food from the mouth and gums by observing correct dental hygiene.

Bad breath is also caused by gum disease, which in turn is caused by the build up of plaque on the teeth. Tell tale signs of gum disease are bleeding gums and wobbly teeth. Other causes of bad breath are a throat or tonsil infection and catarrh. In some cases bad breath is a sign of underlying health problems, in which case it is advisable to consult your doctor.

Some foods, which contain pungent oils, can contribute to bad breath. The oils are taken to the lungs and the odour is expelled through the mouth. These foods are garlic and onions. It is strange how the person who has eaten these foods cannot smell them on their breath, but those who have not eaten them can.

Smoking. Smoke lingers on the smokers breath and gives off an unpleasant odour. There are of course other health issues associated with tobacco smokers.

Sinus sufferers can suffer from bad breath due to the postnasal drip which lands on the back of the tongue, where it is compounded by oral bacteria which feed on this discharge, resulting in a smelly breath.

These are just some of the causes of bad breath in adults .

It is true to say that some foods cause bad breath more than others. The main culprits are garlic, which tends to stay on the tongue, causing a bad smell from the tongue. Other foods which cause a smelly breath are onions, cheese and coffee. These foods tend to remain on the tongue, which smells, so the solution is to clean the tongue with a tongue scraper or toothbrush.

Try to clean as much of the tongue as you can, as food particles left on the tongue form bacteria which causes it to smell. Stick your tongue out in front of a mirror, and if you can see a film of white substance on it, that is where the odour is originating from, so give it a clean.

Some foods are more pungent than others, such as onions and the foods related to it. Sucking a mint will only mask the smell and will not remove the cause. To take away the prime cause of a stinky breath, be thorough in your oral hygiene. That means brushing your teeth after eating, and by using a variety of dental aids, removing food particles from between the teeth and gums.

This is the best defence against foods that cause bad breath.

photo by CarbonNYC

Bad breath in the morning happens because bacteria builds up on the tongue during the night, causing the breath to smell and it is noticeable when you first wake up. This is called morning bad breath, because many people have a stinky breath only on waking. The signs of this happening to you are when the mouth feels dry. Even though you clean and floss the teeth before going to bed, the breath can still smell in the morning.

Bacteria builds up on the tongue all the time, and during the night there is a shortage of saliva to wash away this bacteria, so the breath smells when you wake up. I have a drink of water before I go to bed, and this helps a bit. I also drink a glass of water when I first wake up, and this helps prevent my mouth from becoming too dry, and therefore smelly. But, I still need to clean and floss my teeth, and scrape my tongue, to keep my breath from smelling odorous.

Buying a good tongue scraper is worthwhile if you are serious about winning the battle against bad breath. My breath feels so much cleaner and fresher after using one of these.

Stick your tongue out in front of the mirror, if you think you have a smelly breath. If the colour of your tongue is not pink, the chances are your breath is whiffy. Be sure to clean as far back on the tongue as you can. You are looking for the tell tale signs of bacteria, which make the surface of the tongue look a shade of white.

If you have normal bad breath in the morning, following the suggestions above should control it. If you suspect the cause of your bad breath in the morning is caused by a medical condition, you should consult a doctor.

The chances are high that if you are fond of eating garlic in your food, you are looking for a quick fix for bad breath from garlic. Curries of all kinds are a popular meal for many of us. It can be served straight out of a tin, if you are in a hurry and do not mind eating convenience foods, or you can enjoy one made from fresh ingredients.

Preferences vary. What is beyond question is that after the meal, the breath will smell of garlic, often for a long time afterwards. This is called garlic bad breath.

You could try drinking water after the curry, and this will relieve the dry mouth feeling which comes with eating spicy foods. A dry mouth usually means a smelly breath. But garlic bad breath is not something you can get rid of very easily. There are herbs you can eat with the meal, such as fresh parsley, but it is difficult to chew, though it is surely no accident that parsley is frequently served with curries. Cardamom is also used in the fight against garlic bad breath, but for me it only masks the odour and does not take it away completely.

The smell of garlic is difficult to get rid of because once it is digested, its oils are released into the bloodstream and circulated to the lungs where the smell is exhaled for many hours after it has been eaten. Time alone will get rid of it, but methods of speeding up the process are not totally effective. Mouthwashes and eating something minty will help mask the worst of the smell but that is all they will do.

The best way of coping with bad breath from garlic is to have the same meal yourself. It is only people who have not eaten garlic in a meal who can smell it on the breath of those who have.

Surprising to say, but I am sure not everyone is aware they have smelly breath. Just because you do not notice a smell coming from your own breath does not mean your breath does not smell. If you are like me, you have probably tried many ways of curing bad breath. But what if there was only one cure, which you could have confidence would not let you down when it mattered. This article goes in search of the number one cure for bad breath.

What if you had to rank, in order, the most effective measures for getting rid of a smelly breath? I do not know about you, but I would start with cleaning my teeth. The reassuring minty taste in the mouth after cleaning, gives me some confidence that my breath, if it ponged before brushing, now at least does not pong so much.

But we have all read that brushing your teeth alone will not solve the problem. So next comes flossing. Getting rid of the stubborn particles of food which remain lodged between the teeth and which are still there after brushing. You do not notice the breath feeling any fresher after flossing, but getting rid of the food particles means less bacteria in the mouth. And it is the bacteria which smell.

Some people use baking soda, or take freshly squeezed lemon mixed with water as bad breath remedies. I have not tried them myself, so I do not know how effective they are.

Chewing a piece of parsley is said to help eliminate garlic bad breath. It is definitely hard work chewing parsley though. Then there are mouthwashes, but you have to look at what is in them, as they could make a smelly breath worse.

Where is this heading, as there is no definitive answer, so far? Well, it is up to you, the reader, to decide for yourself out of the many available remedies, which is the number one cure for bad breath.

Some people put their trust in home remedies as cures, others do not. It's a free country, so everyone is free to make up their own mind as to whether they choose to use home remedies or not.

As to whether they actually work, that is up to the user to decide. This is not a home remedy for bad breath that I have tried myself, but, looking at the ingredients, it looks believable.

That said, the remedy is as follows:

The juice of a fresh lemon, squeezed and taken as a drink, twice a day. Lemon is a good household cleanser too. It is good for de scaling kettles, for instance. If it tastes too bitter for you, try adding a sweetener, such as honey.

I am not saying it will work, but it might be worth a try, just to see what lemon mixed with honey tastes like.