What Causes Bad Breath?

Don't you hate it when you or someone you are talking to has bad breath? Should you tell someone when their breath offends? Would you want someone to tell you? I carry mints in my purse at all times. I am constantly popping them, for fear I may have bad breath. I've never been told that I do, but I think I would shrink with shame if I knew I had offending breath. When I encounter someone who does have bad breath, I will offer a mint to him/her also, but not to offend. All my friends know I carry mints, so it is no big deal. But in actuality mints and mouthwashes are only a temporary fix to a problem that almost everyone has at one time or another. It may actually be more effective to rinse your mouth out with water, than to constantly pop mints. Some people may have halitosis due to poor oral hygiene, and then there may be a medical problem causing this condition. When bushing our teeth, we should take special care in flossing and rinsing our mouth of all debris, and also brush the mouth in its entirety. Brush the tongue, and the inside of the mouth, because germs love to hang out there. Our teeth are only one small area of the oral cavity.

What causes bad breath?
As food particles and oils from such foods as onions and garlic break down and form bacteria. As a result a bad odor comes from the mouth and becomes offensive to those around you. You may not smell it yourself, but others will. When we eat onions, it isn't so much that we ate the onions and the smell hangs around in our mouth, but rather onions and garlic are digested, the oils are absorbed into the blood stream where they are deposited into the lungs to be blown off and the smell is pretty bad. Alcohol works the same way that is why a breathalyzer will tell if you are legally drunk. The breathalyzer can measure the amount of alcohol absorbed into the lungs.

If you have dental problems, such as cavities, periodontal problems, or you don't practice good brushing and flossing techniques you may have a problem with bad breath, because when food particles stay in the mouth, they break down and start growing bacterial. The bacteria give off vapors of their own. Also, plaque bacteria start growing and make a sticky film that lives on your teeth. This plaque will harden into a cement-like material that is nothing more than the skeletons of dead bacteria. As the plaque continues to grow, the gums start to recede from the teeth and bacteria grow up under the gums. Periodontal disease, if not treated, will cause bone loss in your jaw, causing your teeth to loosen. Many people have had to have all their teeth pulled because it was the only option after so much bone has been lost in the jaws.

Your breath is an indicator of what is going on within your mouth and the rest of your body. Someone with kidney problems may have breath that smells like urine, and liver problems may produce fishy breath. Someone on a strict diet may be cutting so many calories that their body has gone into keto-acidosis, which will produce a fruity breath.

How can I promote good oral care?
It is important to drink enough water during the day, because it helps us to produce saliva. Saliva helps to clean the mouth, as dead cells accumulate there. Those dead cells if left on the surfaces of the mouth will grow bacteria and you will be giving off a foul odor from your mouth. If you have a throat infection, such as strep throat or sinusitis, tonsillitis, canker sores, or a respiratory infection you may have bad breath, as well as foul smelling discharges that are expectorated. Smoking is bad because it dries the mouth, and is often the primary cause of periodontal disease in some people.
If you have bad breath that persists even after good oral care, it may be necessary to see your doctor to determine if there is an underlying condition responsible for your bad breath. But in most cases, brushing after you eat, flossing regularly, brushing all the interior surfaces of the mouth, including the tongue, and drinking plenty of water should help to relieve bad breath. If you wear dentures, clean them well, and rinse them regularly throughout the day, because food does tend to hind under them between the gums and the inner side of the dentures. You should use a toothbrush with soft bristles, not hard bristles because the hard bristles can damage the gums. You don't want your bums to bleed, because an injury to the gums can cause infection.
Make good oral hygiene a habit. Teach your children the right way also. Go to your dentist on average twice a year for a check up, and to get your teeth cleaned. If you have dentures, you should still go to the dentist to have your dentures cleaned professionally, and to check to see that they still fit you properly.

Source: Wikipedia, Mayo Clinic information page