Fighting Bad Breath

Halitosis, commonly known as bad breath is an embarrassing disease. Most people with bad breath do not know their problem, but the people around them certainly know and embarrass to tell them. The reaction of people around you when you speak or open your mouth will somehow offer you a hint in case you have a bad breath problem.

However, there are tests for bad breath you can use, and one test is to lick the rear of your wrist and allow it to dry for one to three minutes and then smell it. Another way is to scrape the rear of your tongue with an inverted spoon and smell the thick whitish dried residue. How it smells is most likely the way your breath smells to others. For those who have bad breath, it is important to have learned to fight bad breath.

To have learned to fight bad breath, first, you should know the cause of bad breath. Bad breath is caused by the accumulation of bacteria in the mouth. There are many than 600 types of bacteria present in the mouth which tends to overpopulate due to food debris and other factors like gum problems and tooth decay. Accumulation of anaerobic bacteria on the posterior of the tongue, gums, and teeth when mixed with mouth air and exhaled create a foul odor or bad breath.

There are two types of bad breath, namely transient and chronic bad breath. Transient bad breath is caused by poor mouth hygiene, oral dryness, or by eating certain foods like onion and garlic. Transient bad breath usually disappears on its own or by improved oral hygiene. Chronic bad breath is more serious and caused by continuous accumulation of bacteria and needs specialized treatment. It is important to have learned to fight bad breath even before it becomes a chronic bad breath.

Learn how to fight bad breath before it becomes a social stigma or before it affects your relationship with people. Number one on how to fight bad breath is proper oral hygiene. Brush your teeth religiously every morning and after every meal, including your tongue where bacteria will probably accumulate. Be careful with the foods you eat, and some foods cause bad breath like onions and garlic. Drink lots of water, and proper hydration prevents bad breath and accumulation of bacteria. Have a dental check-up every six months to avoid tooth decay.

Proper oral hygiene alone sometimes doesn't work on people with chronic bad breath. If you happen to follow all the oral hygiene mentioned and after bad breath testing you believe that you've kept a bad breath or someone told you that you do have bad breath, you should act on this at once before it could affect your social life. Finding how to fight bad breath and get rid of bad breath for good is something you should not ignore. It's better to act on this now than suffer the effects of bad breath in your life.