How to Get Rid of Bad Breath

Bad breath is embarrassing, offensive to some people, and could have a negative impact on one’s personal, social, and possibly even professional lives. That’s why people who deal with this condition often search long and hard to find ways to get rid of bad breath. Scientifically known as halitosis, bad breath often results from the mouth-wide accumulation of pathogens like bacteria.

Causes of Bad Breath

While bacteria that produce sulfur are the primary cause of bad breath, numerous underlying factors contribute to their development and advancement including:

Dry Mouth
Dry mouth is often the byproduct of any number of oral health problems. As it progresses, the subject’s mouth produces and circulates insufficient quantities of saliva. Saliva is crucial to the elimination of mouth-borne pathogens.

Foul Food
Some food particles that get stuck in your teeth can cause an odor as the particles break down. Some foods also can cause bad breath as they are broken down by your digestive system and absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the lungs.

Not Keeping Up with Dental Hygiene
This might seem obvious, but inadequate oral hygiene accounts for a significant number of cases of bad breath. Failure to keep up on critical oral health tasks such as brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash enables potential tooth and gum-harming materials like plaque, tartar, and pathogens to develop quickly and multiply.

Odor Causing Vices
Cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco, and the excessive intake of alcoholic beverages can also be a hurdle to fresh breath. These substances contain numerous foul-smelling chemicals and increase the user’s risk of contracting odor-increasing ailments like gum disease.

Certain Medications
Various drugs either contribute to the development of dry mouth or contain chemicals capable of producing unpleasant aromas when the body synthesizes those substances.

Illnesses
Some illnesses, such as infections, diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, inflammation of the eyes, sinuses and throat or persistent issues like acid reflux can also lead to ongoing bad breath.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Bad Breath

One of the worst things about bad breath is being desensitized, or “smell blind”, to your own odors. In these cases, it’s helpful to know what some of the other symptoms are that may accompany bad breath. Other symptoms may include dry mouth, a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth, a thickening of saliva, the continual need to clear one’s throat, the development of a sticky, white film on the tongue, and the onset of post-nasal drip or a mucus buildup.

Complications

If not properly treated, bad breath could result in complications like social and mental health problems. The embarrassment some people afflicted with halitosis experience might lead to more serious issues like social withdrawal, anxiety, and even depression.

Getting Rid of Bad Breath

Fortunately, numerous bad breath treatment options exist. The specific therapy chosen by your dentist or health professional will depend on issues including the condition’s severity and underlying cause.

In some cases, merely adjusting one’s medications or treating a bad breath-causing illness might be all that’s necessary. However, if it’s not clearly one of those issues, some common treatments and tactics for overcoming bad breath can include:

Strengthening Oral Care Habits
Arguably, the most direct way to overcome halitosis is stepping up one’s dental hygiene. This usually means brushing at least twice per day, flossing regularly, and augmenting your brushing sessions with bacteria-eliminating mouthwash.

Dental care professionals also stress that patients should brush their tongues. Though sometimes overlooked, the tongue can often be the source of large quantities of bacteria. For some people, it’s not uncommon that they’ll be instructed to use a tongue scraper at least once per day.

Limit Troublesome Foods
Those attempting to conquer bad breath should avoid foods containing high levels of tooth and gum-damaging chemicals like sugar. Particularly concerning are candy, soda, and high-sugar chewing gums.

Change Toothbrushes Frequently
Dentists typically urge their patients to only use a toothbrush for three to four months. You should also dispose of a toothbrush after being sick as even newer brushes could become saturated with disease and odor-causing pathogens that could be problematic for your breath.

Prevention

Many people have heard some variation of the expression that the best defense is a good offense. This is especially true in the battle against bad breath. Taking the following measures may lessen your risk. Specific preventative efforts include:

Kick the Bad Habits
While it can be hard to quit, your breath can only improve if you are able to limit or completely stop habits like alcohol and tobacco.

Preventing Dry Mouth
You’ll have more luck getting rid of bad breath if you have increased saliva production. Luckily, saliva generation can be stimulated in a number of ways such as chewing sugarless gum, chewing on crunchy foods like raw vegetables and fruits, and drinking sufficient amounts of water. In addition to helping with saliva production, water plays a critical role in rinsing away lingering odor-causing food particles and organisms.

Obtain Routine Dental Care

Regular visits to the dentist are a great way to help improve your breath and overall oral health. Two visits per year is the recommended cadence from the American Dental Association. If you live in the Metro Detroit area and need some advice on curbing your bad breath, please give us a call at one of our Fortson Dentistry locations today and set up an appointment.