If you’re going to tackle bad breath, you ought to start with the basics. What is causing this bad breath?
So let’s start by looking at the various factors that lead to bad breath issues.
Causes of bad breath:
1. Bad oral hygiene
The primary cause is of course, carelessness in oral care. Just like all the other parts of your body, your mouth needs regular cleaning too. In fact, it needs more care than the rest of you. You talk, you open your mouth to yawn, and you eat. Every time you open your mouth, it is coming in contact with bacteria – and the food particles that get lodged in between your teeth and gums only add to this bacteria build-up. It leads to plaque – that smells…and if allowed to develop, plaque turns into tartar – that stinks!
2. Strong smelling food
The breaking down of the food you eat starts within the mouth itself. The food is digested and absorbed into your bloodstream, and is carried to your lungs, among other organs, and comes out in your breath. So if you’re having garlic for lunch, you are going to give off ‘garlic breath’ for the next few hours. Even the mouthwash you use won’t eliminate the smell of garlic from your oral cavity. In fact, the ‘garlic breath’ or the smell of any other such strong smelling food is going to persist till the food itself is not absorbed and assimilated into your system completely.
3. Dry mouth
When your mouth doesn’t produce enough saliva, it becomes home to bacteria. So, a dry mouth can smell because the saliva that washes out the remnant food particles and bacteria from your teeth, gums and tongue is not enough. This condition is called xerostomia.
4. Excessive smoking and tobacco addiction
Smoking doesn’t just leave your teeth stained; it also leaves a very pungent odor in your mouth. And with time, this stink becomes permanent. The same applies to intake of tobacco in another form.
When you rely too much on low carb high protein diets, you lose weight, sure…but you also suffer from smelly breath. It is because the body is forced to break down the fat, releasing chemicals called ketones. They cause your breath to smell.
Bad breath can also result from other underlying medical conditions. In fact, some of the more grievous ailments start as a bad odor and taste in the mouth. Such problems usually lead to…
Chronic Bad breath!
Also known as Halitosis, chronic bad breath might be caused due to a number of medical conditions – and doesn’t go away even when you follow a proper oral care regimen.
- Periodontal disease – a medical condition where your gums are in serious trouble.
- Disorders in the nasal cavity, the throat, lungs, esophagus etc.
- If you have problems like liver failure or chronic acidity problem, or diabetes, your mouth might give off a weird smell.
Once you figure out what’s causing your smelly breath, you can think out whether you need medical assistance or you can take care of it at home. But when bad breath persists even when you practise correct dental hygiene, it is time to pay the doctor a quick visit.