Happening Hygiene
Halitosis is one of those problems that, to some degree, afflicts everyone; very few of us can claim to wake up in the morning with sweet, fresh breath. For most of us, however, the only other time we worry about our breath is when we are headed for a situation where we will be in relatively close contact with someone else… a situation that we know, from personal experience, bad breath will offend.
There are three main causes for bad breath, two of these are fairly common and one is, fortunately, not common. These causes are: what you eat, your oral hygiene and medical conditions that cause bad breath.
What you eat: The most common cause of bad breath is what you eat and drink, but sometimes, as we all know, we loose control of what we eat because situations dictate where and often what we eat. Some things like garlic, onions, cheeses and most alcoholic drinks are well known as breath killers. Everything you ingest is eventually digested by your natural stomach acids, absorbed into your bloodstream and eventually effect your breath. Brushing your teeth and using a good antiseptic mouthwash or at least using a breath spray or breath mints will pretty effectively mask this breath problem but the problem won’t be eliminated until the digested food passes through your body. In a sense, this is a temporary bad breath problem and is not really considered to be halitosis.
Also in the category of ‘what you eat,’ but a more permanent cause of bad breath, is your diet. A regular diet of the kinds of food that cause bad breath will give you a more or less chronic case of halitosis… you keep adding ‘fuel’ to your bad breath engine. Another more and more common version of this is the rash of halitosis being caused by the current low-carbohydrate diet craze. If you are on a low-carbohydrate diet you are most likely suffering from permanent halitosis cause by your body ‘burning fat’ instead of carbohydrates. Good oral hygiene will help reduce this breath problem but the only real cure is a change in your diet. For the same reason that a low-carb diet will cause bad breath, fasting will also cause extreme bad breath and will, over time, damage your internal organs.
Oral hygiene: Your mouth is, of course, a major contributor to breath problems because it is a catch-all for food particles (mostly between your teeth) and bacteria (mostly on your tongue and in the soft tissue of your gums). Any food stuck between your teeth will rapidly spoil in the warm, moist conditions provided by your mouth and the bacteria will thrive.
Good oral hygiene consists of brushing your teeth at least twice a day (preferably with a fluoride toothpaste), brushing or gently scraping your tongue while brushing your teeth, flossing at least once a day and using an antiseptic mouthwash that does not contain alcohol two or three times a day. Other things, recommended by the ‘American Dental Association,’ that contribute to good oral hygiene are:
eating a balanced diet
limiting between-meal snacks
replacing your toothbrush every three or four months if not more often
and visiting your dentist regularly to get your teeth cleaned and your gums examined
Occasionally, in your busy life, proper oral hygiene (flossing, brushing, scraping, rinsing) takes a back seat to things like the demands of work and the problems of emergency situations. When you can’t do it right, you can at least do something. After eating, if you can’t brush, swish some water around in your mouth for 20 or 30 seconds, spit it out and then repeat it. Also carry a travel sized bottle of a good, antiseptic, non-alcohol-based mouthwash in your purse, briefcase or whatever you carry. Use that as your emergency stash. Then there are always breath mints…
Medical conditions that cause bad breath! Many medical problems cause breath problems; some of the major ones are: diabetes, gastric problems, sinus problems, tonsillitis, liver disease, common colds, lung diseases, and esophageal diseases.
Chronic bad breath can also be caused by gum disease and by dry mouth. Plaque buildup on your teeth is a major cause of gum disease. The plaque causes a build-up of bacteria and the bacteria causes toxins to form; the toxins irritate the gums. If periodontal disease continues untreated, it can cause damage to your gums. Dry mouth (also called xerostomia) is simply a lack of saliva in your mouth. Saliva is needed to neutralize the acid produced by plaque and also to wash away bacteria that accumulates on your tongue and gums. Dry mouth may possibly be caused by a medication you are taking or by a medical condition that has caused you salivary glands to slow down the production of saliva.