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Everyone has encountered bad breath at some point in life. However, if you have been battling bad breath for a long time you should pay closer attention; maybe you’re making a small mistake somewhere or you need professional help.
Bad breath affects up to a quarter of adults.
It can be a symptom of various illnesses, but also of insufficient oral hygiene. The human brain is moreover extremely tolerant to bad breath, so you may not notice your own bad breath at all. The question is, what about those around you who do notice it? We’ve gathered for you the 5 most common reasons why your mouth may smell.
1) You don’t clean between your teeth
Do you brush your teeth with a toothbrush after every meal? However, food residues get caught especially in the spaces between teeth. They begin to ferment and smell after just a few hours. After eating, especially after meat, use dental floss or an interdental brush to remove food residues.
Tip: Every evening after brushing your teeth and cleaning between your teeth, also scrape your tongue. One pass with a tongue scraper is enough to remove the coating that settled there during the day.
2) You don’t drink enough
Dry mouths smell and bacteria that break down food residues thrive better in them. Start your morning with a glass of water. Almost everyone’s breath smells in the morning — for some less, for others more. If you sleep with your mouth open, the smell is more pronounced. If you chew gum after every meal for fresh breath, hold off! Rinsing your mouth with plain water has the same effect. Do that also after drinking coffee, tea, alcohol, or sweet soda or juice.
If you drink little, your mouth dries out and it’s not only you who notices it, but everyone around you as well. Besides plain water, occasionally have water with lemon.
Bacteria in the mouth really don’t like vitamin C.
3) Food
Onion, leek, chives and garlic contain an active substance called alliin. During cooking, cutting and eating it is converted into the essential oil allicin, which smells very strongly. It lasts for approximately 12 hours until it evaporates from the body. It doesn’t only make the breath smell; it is emitted from the body through every bodily opening and with every fluid. Most noticeably, however, it will be smelled from the mouth and sweat.
Smelly breath can also be caused by radishes, so it’s better to slice them, salt them and let them stand for at least 10 minutes. Alcohol is also excreted through all openings; you can’t cover it up with gum or by brushing your teeth. You’ll have to wait until it wears off.
4) Illness
If your mouth smells it can be due to a dental cavity, a yeast infection of the throat or even a purulent tonsillitis. In these cases you will, however, feel pain. There are illnesses that do not hurt and can also be read from the breath. One of them is diabetes, which manifests with an acetone-like smell. Breath odor can also signal diseases of the sinuses, the digestive tract or the lungs.
5) You’re on a diet
Have you cut carbohydrates and does your menu consist mainly of proteins? If you reduce carbohydrate intake to less than 100 grams per day, ketosis is triggered in the body. It is a state in which fats are burned instead of sugars, and part of it is breath that smells of acetone.
