A Hygiene How-To Bad Breath Solution
Are you looking for bad breath solutions? Then look no further!
Bad breath is perhaps the most common of all health problems. It is offensive. It is embarrassing. And it is just plain annoying. If you are one of the tens of millions who dreams of always having a fresh and clean mouth, here’s what you need to know.
Morning Breath
The kind of halitosis the largest number of people have and the smallest number of people actually manage to treat is morning breath, bad breath that is worst just after awakening.
The reason is it so hard to treat morning breath is that it tends to come and go. Medical researchers have been able to detect very few patterns in morning breath other than that it is more common in women than in men.
Morning breath has little or nothing to do with nighttime brushing. It has little or nothing to do with food choices. It’s definitely caused by the volatile sulfur compounds released as bad breath bacteria digest proteins from food particles and dead gum tissue, but the real issue is where these volatile sulfur compounds arise.
Morning breath is caused by bad breath on the tongue. If you are brushing your teeth, or flossing your teeth, or using an oral irrigation device on your tongue, you aren’t getting rid of the bad breath bacteria that cause morning breath. This requires cleaning your tongue.
The way most of us clean our tongues first thing in the morning is by eating breakfast. Crusts of toast and hot coffee do loosen the film of bad breath bacteria on the tongue and relieve morning breath, only to have it come back the next morning. If you would like to kiss your partner first thing in the morning with a response of “Ewwww,” however, clean the film off your tongue. You can use plastic tongue scraper (never use a sharp object on your tongue) or gently brush your tongue with your toothbrush. Be sure to clean and dry the instruments you use to scrape your tongue so you won’t reinfect your mouth the next time you use them.
Breath that is Bad All Day Long
Or maybe morning breath is not your problem. Maybe you have breath that is bad every day and bad all day long. Usually this kind of bad breath is also due to bad breath bacteria, but the bacteria all over the mouth, not just on the tongue, but also on the teeth and in the sulcus, or gap, between tooth and gums.
Getting rid of bad breath bacteria gets rid of bad breath, at least temporarily. You can brush and floss your teeth and scrape your tongue and irrigate your gums and bad breath will usually go away. If you have not made a habit of using an oral irrigation device to clean under the gum line before (you have to point the jet of water under the gum line, not at your teeth), it can take as long as month to see results in the quality of your breath. In the meantime, you can cover up bad breath with mouthwash.
All brands of mouthwash are not created equal. Many brands of mouthwash contain alcohol. They make your mouth burn, and manufacturers try to convince you that the pain your feel in your mouth is the death of bad breath bacteria.
It’s not. It’s the death of cells in the lining of your mouth, on your gums, and on your tongue. When these cells die, they become food for bad breath bacteria. As they die, the linings of your gums and tongue dry out, providing footholds for bad breath bacteria from which they cannot be washed away. And the concentration of alcohol used in mouthwash is only enough to kill your own tissues, not enough to kill bacteria.
Most brands of mouthwash just keep you needing more. There are brands of mouthwash that really do help relieve bad breath without perpetuating its causes. If you can find them and afford them, try Dr. Katz’s or Oxycare or Dioxicare (the one for treating bad breath, not the one for treating foot and mouth disease). Or if you can’t find or afford these brands of mouthwash, at least rinse your mouth with a product that is alcohol-free.
Getting rid of bad breath bacteria goes a long way toward getting rid of bad breath. But there are some health conditions that have to be corrected before you can get bad breath under control.
Braces that don’t fit, fillings that are coming out, and crowns that have cracked form perfect homes for bad breath bacteria. If you have braces or fillings or crowns and you have intensely unpleasant breath you can’t control, schedule a checkup with your dentist as soon as possible.
“Mouth like a sewer” with dark urine signals liver failure. The same kind of fecal breath odor with abdominal pain, especially abdominal pain on the left side or center, signals a blockage in the colon. Both conditions require emergency medical treatment.
Breath that smells like a mixture of fruit cocktail and nail polish remover is a sign of ketoacidosis, a condition that can occur in diabetics who are unable to control their blood sugar levels. If you are diabetic and you are told you have this kind of breath, test your urine for ketones. Or if you can’t test for ketones, go to an emergency room at once.
Dire medical conditions usually are not the cause of bad breath. About 90% of the time bad breath is caused by bad breath bacteria that the right kind of oral hygiene can remove. Knowing where to focus your efforts makes all the difference in getting rid of bad breath for good.
