Bad Breath occurs to most people at some stage of their life. Many people tell me they have morning bad breath. This is caused by our mouth drying out as we sleep as our body stops producing saliva when we sleep. This condition often gives us a horrid taste in our mouth as we wake and will smell awful to anyone near you. It also worsens as we get older because we produce less saliva so older people are much more likely to have bad breath all the time. This effect is amplified by most prescription drugs as they dry the mouth. Halitosis is self detectable by a foul taste in the mouth, often described as a metallic taste. We cannot smell our own breath or most of our other body odours as our olfactory (sense of smell) ignores our own smells so it can focus on the smells around us. This is probably a good thing as many of us may not like our own body odours! If you have morning bad breath you can easily find yourself with persistent bad breath.(all day bad breath) So it's a good idea to rid yourself of morning bad breath and in turn prevent all day bad breath. I have left some websites that I trust and know there advice works so have a read of them.
One of the frustrating issues for bad breath sufferers is nobody will tell you about it because they fear it will offend you, thus making it all the more difficult for the sufferer to know if and how bad their breath is. So use the following to diagnose yourself. I note these same people have no problems talking about you bad breath when you're not around.
OK test your own bad breath by using the following self tests
1 Due to the fact saliva holds bad breath smells try this regularly, lick the back of your wrist, let it dry for 2 minutes, and then sniff the area after a few moments. If you notice a bad smell, you can times it by 10 and that's what you smell like to others.
2 Another method that's worked as a useful bad breath test: Use a teaspoon or better still a tongue scraper. Scrape the very back your tongue wait a moment then smell the spoon, if it smells bad you have bad breath.
3 When you floss your teeth do you notice a bad smell? If so see your dentist and have all your teeth checked for cavities and cleaned. Make sure your dentist gets it right first time as dentist are well known for generating return visits.
4 There is no question the most efficient and most awkward way is to just ask someone you feel close to. This should be a person you trust and who cares about you.
5 Whenever you're near someone focus on their body language: do they rub their noses, do they back away from you, do they cough, do they offer you mints? Two or more of these signals can be interpreted to show you have bad or chronic halitosis.
6 Medications can often cause bad breath. Be very careful with medications as they can dry your mouth and cause chronic bad breath from day one. Ask your doctor if your medications can be substituted with exercise or other remedies.
7 Ongoing dry mouth is a serious condition. Stop it with sugar free gum and drinking 2 litres of water per day. Curiously drinking water often gets ignored despite it being the best treatment for halitosis. Do not fall into that trap!
8 Stress can cause instant dry mouth and dry mouth causes bad breath. Avoid stress when possible. Get the things that cause stress out of your life. For the stress you have to endure make sure you have your sugar free gum and water bottle with you. It may sound silly but consider yoga as it's a proven stress killer.
9 Inadequate oral hygiene is an open invitation to halitosis, make sure you floss first then using only a soft bristle tooth brush your tongue then clean each tooth then scrape your tongue clean.
10 Food that help bad breath are dairy especially cheese, all meats especially red meat. So avoid these foods and don't even touch cheese.
If you've failed 3 or more of these test it indicates chronic bad breath or halitosis visit OralTech Labs as I continue to receive excellent feedback from people using OralTech Labs advice and it shows the best oral health outcomes. Try to make an effort to get on top of it today and not in 20 years time after all your friends and family have abandoned you.
Hi my name is Dr James Wright I'm a ENT bacterial researcher for General Labs. In response to the volume of emails I receive from people desperate to get rid of their bad breath I've directed them to my articles here.
I've created this series of articles to help people understand and control their bad breath. I also recommend all bad breath sufferers visit as sufferer's reports to me show excellent oral health outcomes after using their advice.
