MORNING BREATH — HALITOSIS
Does your morning breath knock people dead?
Are you embarrassed when you wake up and see your partner wince as soon as you open your mouth first thing in the morning?
Do you let off a blast of putrid breath so deadly that it could raise the dead or knock someone out?
Sure, the comments above may be a little intense. Perhaps you are not in those extreme categories, but still you are self-conscious about the effect your bad breath has on people. The condition you are probably suffering from is called halitosis.
The truth is that halitosis, or morning breath can cause an otherwise confident person to feel insecure, and if the problem is persistent, it can interfere with his or her career. If your job has you close up in other people’s faces you may have a professional problem. The other arena where bad breath can take a bad toll in your life is in your romantic relationship. Bad breath can be a real intimacy killer.
What causes bad breath? Almost 90% of the time bad breath causes originate in the mouth, which is exposed to low oxygen, especially after being closed all night while asleep and inactive. The most common culprit for mouth-generated halitosis is the tongue, where anaerobic bacteria can flourish and produce sulfur compounds.
The natural way to improve your breath is to scrape it with a tongue cleaner, tongue scraper or even with a toothbrush if you don’t have one of the other tools. You can brush your teeth, floss, gargle with mouthwash and other herbal remedies, and this will help but won’t last long. The only sure thing to do is scrape the tongue clean of the bacteria that are producing the smells in the first place.
Sometimes it is diet. For instance, if you eat a lot of garlic you will have garlic breath. Dry mouth, or Xerostomia, is responsible for many cases of halitosis. When there isn’t enough saliva in the mouth, bacteria thrives. If you breathe through your mouth instead of your nose, you could be triggering this condition. Gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, is also thought to be a cause of halitosis in some cases. Other less likely causes are nasal/sinus infections, tonsil putrefaction, gases escaping from the stomach via the esophagus into the mouth, and reflux of gases from the stomach. Even rarer are systemic diseases.
There is a phenomenon where many people are convinced they have halitosis even though they don’t. So many people fall into this category that there is even a name for them: halitophobia, or delusional halitosis. Ask a trusted friend if they think you have bad breath. As with all health conditions, if you seriously believe you have a health problem you should seek medical advice and never rely on information collected online or hearsay.
How To Get Rid of Bad Breath and Manage Halitosis:
- Clean your tongue with tongue scraper or tongue cleaner at the back, twice daily
- Clean your teeth, floss, brush, polish daily
- Gargling with one of the mouthwashes that effectively improve the breath for several hours
- See your dental hygienist regularly
- Eat a healthy breakfast that is fiber rich to help clean off the back of the tongue
- Chew gum, especially mint, parsley and other herbs or spices known to neutralize bad breath
- If you wear dentures clean them thoroughly regularly
There are some bad breath remedies on the market today, such as Therabreath and Profresh, both of which are said to be quite effective.