U.S. Health Watch

So why do we get bad breath and how the heck can we get rid of it? These are two very common and very important questions that we have all had to ask ourselves at some time or another. The reason it is such an important thing to figure out is that it is so much a part of who we are. It affects our confidence with people and our reputation around people. Talking is such a part of our daily life and if we have bad breath we are either not talking for fear that someone will find out how nasty we are or we are embarrassing or offending those we are talking to. Bad breath is also not only offensive to others, it carries with it a taste that is offensive to the owner as well.

Now it is one thing to have bad breath once in a while or in the morning before we brush our teeth. This kind of problem is easily remedied with simple hygiene. But can you imagine (and some of you can) having bad breath chronically and so bad that simply brushing your teeth or avoiding spicy food at lunch is not enough. Well some people have to live with this nightmare called chronic halitosis.

So if you are one of these people you need to first know that there are very good remedies to most people’s cases of bad breath that are worse than normal. First you should go see your dentist which is pretty obvious. You see bad body odors in general are secondary to the growth of microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, etc.) that are producing noxious fumes as a byproduct of their metabolisms. It is always important to go and see that you don’t have a major infection that is causing the rotten (literally!) smell in your mouth.

Often however there isn’t a huge cavity or pharyngeal abscess to explain the terrible smells and because the etiology is less obvious the solution is less obvious as well. Killing the bacteria is still the name of the game though and it just because people with chronic bad breath were unlucky enough to have gotten a particularly smelly strain of bacteria.

How do you do this? Well in several ways. One is to brush your teeth more often like every time you have food. Another is to get in the habit of brushing your tongue. Another is to buy a good mouth wash that kills the bacteria. Then lastly and maybe not so obvious is eating yogurt. You see yogurt contains a bacteria that lives well in the body and is very benign in terms of bad effects. If you do these things you may just find that your bad breath takes a hike.