Bad Breath on National Fresh Breath Day?
A Short Guide on How You Can Put an End to Halitosis
Do you have persistent bad breath that never seems to go away? As August 6th is National Fresh Breath Day, we wanted to talk about some of the potential causes of bad breath as well as some tricks to fixing it. Celebrate this dental health holiday with these helpful tips on how to say “goodbye” to stinky breath!
Why Does My Breath Smell So Bad?
Halitosis, also known as ‘bad breath,’ can be caused by any number of things. From surgical wounds after oral surgery to tooth decay, gum disease or even poor oral hygiene, there are plenty of reasons your bad breath might be sticking around. With that being said, there is one commonality that most of these issues share and it happens to be a relatively easy one to fix: bacteria.
While bacteria may be the common denominator that many causes of Halitosis share, how to fix this problem can depend on where the bacteria is gathering in your mouth. A couple of the most common locations are:
Tongue
Teeth
One easy way to get that pesky bacteria off of your tongue, is by brushing the surface area gently—though this method is not always the most efficient. Another (more popular and effective) way to clean your tongue is by using a tongue scraper. These helpful tools are specifically designed to apply even pressure across the surface of your tongue to remove any lingering bacteria, food debris or dead cells.
When it comes to your teeth, bacteria shows up in the form of plaque—a film that naturally forms on your teeth and gums. Unfortunately, this can leave your breath smelling anything but fresh. To fix this, you may need to increase your dental hygiene efforts.
By having a good oral care routine in place and seeing your dentist regularly, bad breath can be easily remedied. This, along with other prevention methods can help to not only reverse odor, but also keep you from oral diseases and other serious dental healthcare issues.
Bacteria can sour your breath in other ways besides collecting and residing in one particular place of your mouth. If you suffer from a dry mouth, bacteria can wreak havoc on your breath. Saliva helps to naturally wash away excess bacteria. While lozenges and other products on the market can help, chewing on sugar-free gum or sucking on a sugar-free candy can potentially be just as effective at solving this problem.
Sugar-free candies and gums stimulate your salivary glands and increase the saliva in your mouth. However, the best way to solve dry mouth is to drink water frequently throughout the day. You’ll be amazed at what a few extra glasses of water can do!
Dry mouth can be instigated by medical conditions which can also be the root cause of Halitosis. Some medical conditions that are known to change the scent of your breath are allergies, lactose intolerance, ketones caused by diabetes, and more. If you suffer from bad breath and have any of these conditions or think you might and haven’t been diagnosed yet, talk to your dentist. Together, you can learn more and discuss proper treatments/next steps.
Other Tips and Tricks
For those who only suffer from this occasional smelly symptom, do not fear—we have plenty of tips and tricks to fight the war on bad breath for you, too!
What are you eating? As many of us know, foods like onions and garlic can leave our breath smelling not-so-pleasant. That is because these foods are a part of the Allium family; as are shallots, leaks and chives. These foods contain a sulfur compound that give them their distinctive flavor.
In addition to this, when they are cut or mashed, they release gases which mingle with—you guessed it—bacteria, which leads to stinky breath. Rather than skip these foods entirely, try drinking a glass of milk after eating. Studies have shown that doing this can significantly improve bad breath caused by these popular, stinky foods.
Skip the After-Dinner Mint. While you may look forward to these sweet treats after your meal, the bacteria in your mouth is too! In fact, bacteria uses sugar to make acid which wears down your teeth and causes bad breath.
Instead, skip the sweets and try chewing sugarless gum. As mentioned before, gum stimulates your salivary glands which produces saliva to help naturally wash out your mouth.
Do you have dentures or dental appliances? If you answered ‘yes,’ then you might want to consider how often you are cleaning them. Food particles can be easily caught on the teeth of your dental appliance as well as the underside. To ensure your dentures, retainer, or other dental appliances are not the source of your bad breath, clean them thoroughly, frequently and regularly.
When is the last time you replaced your toothbrush/brush head? This one may seem like a simple answer to the question of bad breath, but many people often use their toothbrushes for much longer than they are supposed to. Splintered bristles on your brush of choice will not work as well and won’t remove plaque and oral bacteria as effectively. Be sure that you are changing your toothbrush or brush head every three to four months!
Are you a smoker? It’s fairly common knowledge that smoking is bad for our health on many different fronts, and your mouth is no different! Tobacco products not only leave their own odors on your breath, but they can also dry out your mouth.
For your overall health, we recommend that if you are a smoker, you quit smoking. By ceasing use of tobacco products, your breath, teeth, mouth, and entire body will thank you!
Looking for a good snack? There are a few excellent choices that are both healthy and effective at combatting bad breath. Some of these foods include:
Crunchy, fresh fruits and vegetables like apples, carrots, and celery. These foods encourage your salivary glands to increase their production of saliva. They are also high in fibers which act as nature’s toothbrush with each bite.
Parsley and basil. These herbs have polyphenols which is a natural chemical proven to fight bad breath.
Ginger. Inside ginger is a compound called, ‘6-gingerol.’ This compound activates an enzyme naturally found in our saliva that assists in the process of breaking down sulfur compounds that cause bad breath.
Green tea. Green tea is good for a lot of things, your breath being one of them! Green tea has an abundance of natural antioxidants that can help fight bacteria.
Citrus and Melons. High in Vitamin C, melons and citrus can help to prevent gingivitis caused by persistent halitosis, as well as other dental health problems.
These tips and tricks may not entirely eliminate your bad breath, but they can certainly help in aiding a good oral cleaning routine supplemented by regular dental check-ups!
Additional Help with Halitosis
As always, our staff at Alexandria Smiles want to help you with your dental healthcare in any way that we can. If your bad breath is still sticking around after these suggestions, it might be time to contact us or to schedule an appointment. There may be an underlying issue to your bad breath that our team would be happy to investigate with you.
So, crunch on some carrots, avoid sugary foods, increase your oral hygiene, and celebrate National Fresh Breath Day with confidence. Your friends and family will smell the difference and may even end up celebrating with you!
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