Bad Breath? This is How You Get Rid of It

Approximately 15% of people suffer from a permanently foul mouth odor that does not disappear or diminish through extensive brushing or rinsing. This ‘disorder’ is also called halitosis. This group of people not only have bad breath after eating or drinking certain foods, but they almost always have it.

Fortunately, there are a number of ‘tricks’ to reduce, or even remedy, this problem. And that is -of course- pleasant for everyone in the immediate vicinity. If you don’t do anything about it, you can even fall into social isolation because people avoid you…

The cause

Unfortunately, consuming only a peppermint or mouth spray does not help, the pungent smell reaches right through it. For the most part, the cause of bad breath lies in the oral cavity. There is bacteria that converts food remains into gas with sulfur compounds. This bacteria is found on the tongue, between the teeth, on the gums, in any holes or under a dental prosthesis. However, this applies to everyone.

So why doesn’t everyone suffer from bad breath?

It is often thought that a permanent bad breath has something to do with the stomach. In case of stomach problems, unpleasant smelling air can escape from it. Yet this does not happen very often. The main cause is dehydration of the mouth. Saliva cleans the mouth of ‘bad’ bacteria, but in a mouth that is too dry, the environment is ideal for this bacteria to produce even more gases.

During the night, less saliva is produced and the bacteria accumulates. That’s why almost everyone has a bit of a dirty taste in their mouth when they wake up in the morning.

Drinking

So everyone has a day when the smell is a bit less pleasant from their mouth. This could be because you drank a lot of alcohol the day before, or you had a fatty meal for dinner. Of course, smoking is also very bad for the breath as it reduces the production of saliva. Finally, long periods of dieting are also not conducive to good breath. This often goes hand in hand.

One of the most important solutions is to drink enough water. This will counteract bad breath and help reduce it.

But there are more tips!

Does it happen more often that your breath doesn’t smell so good? Then you can read more handy tips below about what you can do about it.

Floss regularly: flossing is good, preferably after every meal. It removes bacteria that you can’t, or can’t easily, remove with a toothbrush.

Brush or scrape your tongue clean: toothbrushes are available with a tongue cleaner on the back. Use this! Especially since a tongue cleaner removes a lot of bacteria from your mouth.

Rinse your mouth with mouthwash: it’s a good addition to oral hygiene.

Finally, pay attention to what you eat. Often, food is the cause of bad breath. Pay attention to foods such as (raw) garlic, raw onions, certain types of fish, meat and dairy. These cause bad breath. Also, fried food does not do you much good either!