Bad breath is not only a medical but also socialization-related problem. The most embarrassing thing about it is that a person, suffering from halitosis may not even suspect about this, but the people around him certainly notice his bad breath problem and just do not know how to tell him that. The poor sufferer starts to notice that his friends and colleagues have started to avoid talking to him with no apparent personal relationships reasons and only then realizes that something might be wrong with his breath. Let’s learn more about the bad breath causes and the ways to prevent it to avoid such an embarrassing situation!
What is Bad Breath?
In the medical terms, bad breath disorder is referred to as halitosis, which is an unpleasant odor, usually caused by excessive dental bacteria breeding, coming from a person’s mouth, which is noticeable for people around him. So a lot of people suffer from halitosis, even not realizing that. According to the American Dentists Association estimation, bad breath is the third most common reason for tooth decay and gum diseases, for which Americans tend to seek dental help.
What are the Causes of Bad Breath?
According to dental experts, the bad breath disorder is the most commonly associated with inadequate dental hygiene, some medications intakes, major dental disorders, as well as unhealthy habits, such as smoking and alcoholic beverages drinking. Also, note that certain types of foods contribute to the bad breath development or progressing.
In the majority of cases, halitosis is a temporary condition and can be easily treated by its source elimination. But it is worth getting deeply concerned, if the bad breath becomes a persistent problem, as it might be associated with the major underlying dental and general health disorders, such as acute respiratory infections (e. g. bronchitis, pneumonia, postnasal drip), gastroenterological diseases (e. g. chronic acid reflux), as well as diabetes, and kidney or liver functional disorders.
So let’s look through the most frequent bad breath causes more closely.
Why Do Poor Dental Hygiene Habits Lead to Bad Breath?
Teeth brushing and flossing is called to remove food residues and plaque away from your teeth. If you do this not regularly or not thorough enough, the plaque gets accumulated in your oral cavity, creating the perfect environment for dental bacteria breeding, which is the main cause of bad breath.
Apart from standard dental care recommendations, also remember to clean your tongue regularly, as it is the main strategic location of the bad breath causing bacteria. Improperly cleaned dentures are also the potential cause of the disorder.
How Can Medications Cause Bad Breath?
In fact, we rarely associate the bad breath disorder with medications we take. It is rather clear that certain of them tend to cause halitosis as the side effect, but the problem lies much deeper. Many dental and general health care drugs contain alcohol that often causes a dry mouth syndrome, which is associated with the lowered salivation.
The lack of saliva in your mouth lowers your oral cavity ability to fight dental bacteria as well as contributes to the dramatic oxygen level drop. These two factors create the most convenient environment for the bad breath causing bacteria breeding, as they possess the anaerobic breathing model.
How Does What You Eat Affect Your Breath?
Even though gastroenterological diseases are known to be not apparently often related to the bad breath, the food you eat influences your breath much more often, than you are used to thinking, and here is why. The thing is that the foods you eat start to get digested not in your stomach, but yet in your mouth. From there, the partially digested food gets absorbed into the blood stream, and finally gets into your lungs, resulting in the unpleasant smell coming out of your mouth.
These bad breath cases are actually not harmful to your health and are merely embarrassing. You certainly can mask the strong food odor with the help of a mint spray, chewing gum, or even mouthwash, but, for example, the garlic or onion smell, still will not diminish until they are totally digested.
How to Prevent Bad Breath?
- The easiest way to prevent the bad breath disorder is by following adequate oral cavity hygiene and visiting your dentist for the regular check-ups.
- It also would be a good idea to quit smoking and drink as little alcoholic drinks as possible.
- Drink a lot of water, as this will help to increase the saliva flow, which is your natural body protection against dental bacteria and infections.
- Also keep a list of all the drugs you take and foods you eat, if you have previously had bad breath.
- By doing this, you will help your dentist or general physician to discover the underlying cause of your bad breath.
So, now you can see that the bad breath problem is not as harsh and fatal, as it looks at the face of it. Just follow our above-listed tips to prevent the disorder or at least ease the discomfort, associated with the bad breath condition. Be healthy and wealthy!