According to a survey conducted by Bad Breath Institute, every one out of four individuals has bad breath. It is concerning because the people around you feel discomfort while you speak if you have bad breath.
It is more concerning nowadays due to this condition.
Bad breath can be quite embarrassing for you and the people around you, and they may feel discomfort while you speak. These are the concerns with bad breath.
But is there a way to overcome it? Is there a solution for this condition?
Luckily, yes, you can overcome bad breath by following some techniques described in this blog post, let’s look at them in detail.
So, let’s get started…
What is Bad Breath or Halitosis:
Bad breath has a technical term called Halitosis, a condition where your mouth produces a bad smell. There are some exceptions to this as well, for example after you eat something your mouth produces bad breath instantly.
It is a natural process, and it does not mean that you have a bad breath by keeping this one thing into consideration.
Another exception is, after getting up from the bed in the morning you will have bad breath as well, this is also a natural process.
It becomes a concern when it persists over the day or even longer periods for days, weeks, and even months.
But don’t worry, you can reduce bad breath with some techniques, gurgling is one of those. let’s see how it reduces bad breath.
How Gurgling Reduces Bad Breath:
Let me make you understand what Gurgling is? It means rinsing your mouth with water after anything.
During the day when you are busy at work, you’ll notice that your mouth smells bad. After you finish eating if you do not gurgle it leaves traces of food between the teeth.
This leads to bacteria formation and eventually causes bad breath. So gurgling after you eat something can reduce bad breath to some extent.
So, by now you have a basic understanding of what bad breath is, now, let’s look at the causes for bad breath.
Limit Eating Foods Containing Strong Odour:
It also depends on the kind of food you eat. For example, if you eat foods containing garlic/strong odor foods then you are likely to have bad breath.
These foods, after digestion enter your bloodstream, eventually carry to your lungs and affect your breath.
As I mentioned earlier, the food residue that is stuck in between the teeth produces bacteria.
After some time, it releases chemicals like Sulphur; responsible for bad breath.
The other cause of bad breath is anything related to stomach or gut problems like indigestion, not pooping often, intestine problems, etc.
We know that the Oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine are all one part.
Bad breath can happen due to the feces (poop) getting stuck due to the obstruction of bowel movement.
Bowel:
The final stage is the movement of food through the digestive system. If the obstruction of the bowel happens then the poop gets fermented in the intestines and produces an even more stinking smell and eventually comes out as bad breath.
There might be other reasons as well but these two are the most common causes for bad breath.
The other surprising aspect of Bad breath that I came to know about recently, is when you skip your breakfast then also you can have a bad breath.
Surprised right? This is how it happens, breakfast produces saliva – Which is responsible for keeping your mouth wet.
research shows that having a healthy breakfast in the morning produces saliva that fights bacteria.
So, from now on if you ever thought of skipping breakfast just keep in mind that you are one step closer to having Halitosis.
So, now the most important question is how to overcome it, is simple, oral hygiene both internally and externally as well.
Internally for the stomach and externally for the mouth.
How to overcome bad breath:
Externally – By following the brushing and tongue-scraping routine at least twice daily.
Keep your mouth wet by drinking adequate water daily.
By Flossing at least once daily.
And changing the toothbrush every 3 months.
Visiting a dentist every six months.
If you have more severe bad breath, try these temporary techniques like mouthwashes, mouth fresheners, chewing gums, etc.
Internally – Drinking more water keeps your stomach fresh by improving your digestive system function and helps in easy pooping.
Not Pooping often causes bad breath, if you don’t Poop regularly the food you ate gets fermented inside the intestines.
The gases after fermentation travel through the intestines and, esophagus and ultimately come out as bad breath.
You might be aware of the terminology that I have used above. I hope that you got what I am saying, but you need to put more emphasis on flossing.
Use Flossing to reduce bad breath:
Flossing means cleaning/removing food residues/plaque in between the teeth that a toothbrush cannot reach.
It is of utmost importance when it comes to teeth hygiene, It has many benefits one of which is, that it reduces bad breath, but how?
It works this way, you have to do the Flossing with some kind of a flossing device.
For the time being, let’s look at normal Floss – Floss picks which have to be run between the teeth to remove the plaque or food flakes.
So, Flossing helps reduce bad breath by removing food residues from between the teeth.
Not flossing for a long time causes severe damage to your teeth, as they might destroy your teeth permanently due to plaque accumulation.
Plaque is a layer of dirt or bacteria that forms between the gums and the root of the teeth.
Usually colorless at first when it grows becomes tartar which accumulates over a long time and becomes yellow.
This is a brief about flossing. You will know more about Flossing here.
So, the question is how to floss.
How to Floss?
As discussed earlier, Flossing has to be done with the help of a Flossing device.
There are a bunch of varieties of flossing gadgets available in the market, both mechanical and physical.
Where physical ones are cheaper to buy and easy to use as well, whereas mechanical ones are quite expensive. You can learn more about flossing devices here.
Generally, physical flossing devices have a plastic string, and some of them have a wax coating for a smoother flossing experience.
What you need to do is just run the flossing string in between the teeth by moving it back and forth multiple times, until all the food residues come out.
Do this for all teeth gaps, be gentle while doing it for the first time because you will experience bleeding.
And that’s not a worrying sign at all, as it is common while flossing. But after 2 to 3 days into flossing, there will be no bleeding gums afterward.
Reduce bad breath internally:
I already hinted about not pooping often cause Helitosis. It may seem weird but this is the best way to overcome it.
When you have your food, it digests and enters into the final stage; the rectum, and finally comes out through the anus. What happens when you do not poop? The feces stored in the rectum get fermented.
These fermented feces have a very foul smell and come out from our mouth, because all these are single body parts(Oesophagus, big intestine, and small intestine).
That’s the reason pooping at least once a day is a must.
Now let’s know how to know if you have bad breath or not.
How to know if you have a bad breath:
Until now you’ve learned the different aspects of bad breath, but do you know how to find out that you have bad breath or not?
Okay, do you think that you have bad breath and do not know how to know?
It is quite weird that you ask someone, whether you have a bad breath or not by blowing at their face, It is embarrassing, right?
So, is there a way to know it for yourself, of course, there is a way probably two. Simple just lick the back of your palm with your tongue and let it dry then smell it.
If it smells bad then you have a bad breath, this is the quickest and the easiest way to determine bad breath.
Another way is to put your palm in front of your mouth and blow air with your mouth.
If it smells bad then you also have a bad breath, of course, the results are not as accurate as the first one.
In this way, you can determine the bad breath.
Conclusion:
So, here are the different aspects you need to know about bad breath.
in this blog post, you learned about, what bad breath/Helitosis, and the causes of Helitosis, both internally and externally.
we also discussed two important aspects from both the internal and the external namely flossing and pooping.
Finally, Bad breath is a sign of discomfort for others around you, so by practicing these techniques you will be able to overcome bad breath, and be more confident with the people around you.