Avoid bad breath immediately

Do people immediately step back when you open your mouth? Is this hampering your social life? 

If so, take heart. Halitosis or bad breath is mostly a result of poor hygiene and is completely treatable.

What Causes Bad Breath?

The reasons for bad breath range from very simple to very complex. Bad breath may be a result of local or systemic causes. Local causes are the result of a factor present in the mouth or the throat region. Systemic causes however, are the result of a severe underlying medical condition.

Common Local Causes for Bad Breath

 

• Foods like onion, garlic, cabbage and cauliflower have a pungent odour that may give you bad breath. This kind of bad breath is momentary and it will go away without any medication.
• Chewing tobacco or smoking causes your breath to stink and increases the risk of severe halitosis. Smoking irritates the gums too.
• Alcohol also makes your breath stink, that is until the alcohol is drained out of your system. Excessive alcohol can cause severe halitosis.
• Morning dragon breath is caused dues to accumulation of plaque and bacteria. This occurs as your mouth is shut throughout the night and there is a lack of salivation. Bad morning breath will vanish once you brush or eat something.
• Poor dental hygiene may cause plaque to accumulate on your teeth. This gives rise to bacteria and causes bad breath
• Tooth decay, swollen and bleeding gums and other periodontal (the area around the tooth) problems may cause halitosis. It needs to be controlled by proper dental treatment. In some cases dental experts recommend surgery to correct the problem.
• Xerostomia is another cause for bad breath. This is a disorder where the salivary glands don’t function properly. As a result, food particles don’t get washed down completely. They rot and cause foul breath.

Systemic Reasons for Bad Breath

• Severe sinusitis or bronchitis can lead to postnasal discharge. This discharge enters the oesophagus (food pipe) and causes bad breath.
• Diabetes may cause acetone odour to the breath, as insulin is absent in the stomach to break it down.
• If there is kidney dysfunction, your breath might reek of urine as it is not properly disposed off from the body.

If you do want to use something to freshen your breath, you can put a few drops of peppermint oil in a glass of water and rinse (don’t swallow it). You can get peppermint oil at a pharmacy.

Bad breath, or halitosis, has a number of causes, the most obvious being bad dental hygiene. If you don’t brush your teeth regularly and well, bits of pieces of food will become lodged between your teeth and will decompose, causing a bad odor. You probably already know that you should brush your teeth carefully twice a day, but there are some other measures you can take to fight bad breath.

Brushing your tongue is probably the single most effective thing you can do. In studies, it has been shown that brushing the tongue alone is a better guard against bad breath than brushing only the teeth. Brushing both teeth and tongue can help reduce bad breath due to poor dental hygiene almost entirely. You don’t need to scrub your tongue; just gently brush it with a soft-bristled brush to wash away the microscopic bits of food that become trapped in the tiny protuberances.

Flossing is also important for fresh breath. It liberates bits of food and gunk that could otherwise promote odor. Floss at least once a day, preferably just before brushing. If you use dentures, don’t forget to clean them regularly and thoroughly. Like natural teeth, they harbor food and bacteria that can cause bad breath.

Don’t forget to change your toothbrush regularly. You should replace your old toothbrush about every two months. Not only does a fresh toothbrush clean more effectively, it also eliminates any buildup of bacteria that’s begun to colonize your old one.

Brushing after every meal is a good way to fight bad breath, but most of us can’t do it. Instead, just swish a mouthful of water around and spit it out along with bits of food that could otherwise invite bad breath microorganisms to grow on your tongue and teeth.

What you eat can sometimes help fight bad breath. Snacks like carrots, apples, and celery all help to fight the development of plaque on the teeth. Cleaner teeth mean fresher breath.

In addition to keeping your mouth clean, you have to keep it healthy. A twice-yearly visit to your dentist for a thorough cleaning and examination will eliminate other major causes of bad breath. Bleeding gums can cause bad breath and so can untreated cavities and abscesses. Your dentist can help you deal with these problems. See Periodontal Disease, page 272, for more information.

Of course poor dental hygiene is not responsible for all bad breath. Some foods are well-known offenders–garlic would probably be first on anyone’s list. But there are others: Onions, hot peppers, cheeses including blue cheese, Camembert, and Roquefort, spicy oily meats including pastrami, pepperoni, and salami, and even anchovies can cause major breath problems. Drinks that can cause problems with your breath include coffee, beer, wine, and whiskey.

What do you do about these foods and drinks if you want to avoid bad breath? The bad news is that you just have to avoid them. The problem is that the food residue doesn’t just lie on your teeth waiting to be brushed away: It goes into your digestive tract and into your bloodstream and eventually permeates your whole body so that every breath picks up the offending odor in your lungs and broadcasts it. This is why it can take up to twenty-four hours to get rid of some offending smells.

There are other causes of bad breath, some of which have to be dealt with by a physician. Constant postnasal drip from sinusitis (see Sinusitis, page 308) can cause bad breath. So can alcoholism, kidney failure, or liver disease, as well as certain medications. An ulcer can give you bad breath (see Ulcers, page 335), as can chronic indigestion (see Indigestion, page 212). If you have bad breath for more than a few days, your dental hygiene is good, and you haven’t been eating or drinking offending foods, you should check with your doctor’ for other causes.

NATURAL PRESCRIPTION FOR BAD BREATH

• Avoid the use of commercial mouthwashes; instead rinse your mouth with a few drops of peppermint oil (from a pharmacy) mixed in a glass of water. Don’t swallow the water.
• Brush your teeth carefully twice a day.
• Floss your teeth once a day, preferably before brushing.
• Clean dentures carefully,
• Change your toothbrush every two months,
• If you can’t brush after meals, simply rinse your mouth with plain water.
• Snack on carrots, celery, and apples.
• Visit your dentist twice yearly for a thorough cleaning and examination and to eliminate other causes of bad breath: cavities, bleeding gums gums, abscessed teeth.
• Eliminate offending food and drink, including garlic, raw onions, hot peppers, anchovies, cheeses Including blue cheese, Camembert, and Roquefort, oily meats including salami, pastrami, and pepperoni, and drinks such as coffee, beer, wine, and whiskey.

IN ADDITION:

If, after following these recommendations, you continue to have bad breath, you should consult your doctor, as bad breath can also be a sign of indigestion, sinusitis, throat infection, lung infection, kidney disease, chronic alcoholism, or a problem with medications.

 

• Any form of cancer treatment affects the salivary glands and causes Xerostomia, which leads to bad breath.
• Acidity and gastro-intestinal problems also cause foul breath.

source:
http://www.foodheal.com/dentalpans/
related links:
http://dentalplansfree.blogspot.com/