Dealing with Bad Breath

Dealing with Bad Breath

Whether it is your own or someone else’s, most of us suffers from bad breath. The condition is perhaps the most common and most embarrassing malady that affects an individual. It can occur to any of us at any time – early in the morning, during stressful situations like exams or business presentations, and after eating spicy foods.

Experts believe that 85 to 90 % of bad breath comes from the mouth – or more precisely, sources found in the mouth, such as leftover food particles and volatile sulfur compounds produced by the over 170 different types of bacteria living in the mouth. These bacteria feed on foods rich in proteins, such as meat, poultry, and dairy. And in the process of metabolizing these foods, the bacteria will release putrid waste products that causes bad odor.

Although these microorganisms naturally occur in the mouth, too much bacterial flora will result in the highly undesirable condition of bad breath. That is why dealing with bad breath means dealing with these bacteria. The best way to accomplish that, of course, is through proper oral hygiene.

Dealing with bad breath will most certainly involve brushing your teeth after every meal, flossing between teeth, and rinsing with antibacterial mouthwash. Doing all these things will remove the plaque, food debris, and other particles in your mouth that can lead to bad breath.

In addition, dealing with bad breath may also involve avoiding certain types of foods. Whether you like it or not, the foods you eat can affect your breath. That is why temporary bad breath often sets in after eating particularly spicy foods like those that contain a lot of garlic and onions.

These foods have odors that get expelled through the lungs after the foods have been digested and dissolved in the bloodstream. Once the blood moves towards the lungs, the odors are released through the nasal passages.

Practicing ordinary oral hygiene in dealing with bad breath is not guaranteed to work if you keep on eating these kinds of food. As mouthwash can only mask the odor and brushing and flossing can only keep bad odor from coming out of your mouth, nothing therefore can stop the odors from coming out of your nose.

Dealing with bad breath out of nose requires a more positive approach, such as avoiding or minimizing the intake of these foods.

There are also several other causes of bad breath, which when dealt with should solve the problem of bad breath. For instance, people with periodontal disease, or what is more commonly known as gum disease, perpetually expel a bad smell through their mouth when breathing or speaking. Dealing with bad breath in this case will have to involve dealing directly with the disease causing bad breath.