Bad Breath Articles

Bad Breath FAQs

Almost all of us have had bad breath and never knew about it until someone told us. Due to the location of our oral cavity, it can be very difficult to smell our own bad breath. Our oral cavity is connected to our nasal passage. Since our nose filters out and ignores background odors, it filters out and ignores the smell of our own breath. This means that you can have bad breath and not even know about it.

The easiest way to find out if you have bad breath is to ask a loved one to smell your breath. However, there are also ways to check your breath yourself. To do so, just lick the back of your wrist and allow the saliva to dry. The scent it leaves will generally be the way your breath smells to others. You can also take a spoon and turn it upside down, use it to scrape the back of your tongue. You will scrape off a thick whitish material off your tongue, and the way that material smells is how your breath may smell.

What causes bad breath?

In most cases bad breath is caused by the presence of odor-causing bacteria in the mouth. There are also other contributing factors that have a role in causing bad breath, such as eating foods with large amounts of garlic and onions, smoking tobacco, dry mouth, and gum disease.

How can I reduce bad breath?

Drinking plenty of water can greatly reduce bad breath. If you allow yourself to get dehydrated, you body will reduce the amount of saliva it produces. Having dry mouth will cause the bacteria to multiply in your mouth. Saliva will also dilute the compounds produced by the bacteria that cause bad breath.