Bad Breath – Common Causes

Suffering from bad breath can affect your personal as well as your professional life.  Most people will not come right up to you and tell you that you have bad breath as they don’t want to upset you; they will just talk about you to others behind your back.It can be an embarrassing fact of life when you have bad breath.  But what exactly causes bad breath?

Common Bad Breath Causes

Most people have the worst breath in the morning when they first wake up.  You may be okay for a few hours after you brush, but as the day progresses, the stink of bad breath may creep slowly back into your mouth and make the people you deal with cringe.

Sometimes bad breath cause is situational, i.e. it might be caused by something you eat or drink.  It may be you notice your breath after you have eaten a meal that is full of garlic or onions.  It could be that your breath smells like smoke from cigarettes or cigars.  Another bad breath cause that is considered situational is alcoholic beverages.

Other times bad breath cause could be occasional.  Many people use gums, sprays and other types of breath fresheners to mask the effects of halitosis.  This is another name that is given to bad breath.  Even if you use breath fresheners, if the underlying bad breath cause is poor dental hygiene or certain foods you have eaten, they wont last very long in masking the smells. In some cases they might make it even worse.

Those who suffer bad breath cause that is chronic have the worst case of halitosis.  Chronic bad breath is characterized by a persistent fetid odor that comes from your mouth and/or nose.  Most who suffer with chronic bad breath have excellent oral hygiene and don’t know what to do about their condition.

The most common bad breath cause is from a bacterium that is naturally present in your mouth that is feeding off the food particles that is left over from when you last ate.  There are many ways you can fight the effects of this.  One is using a good toothbrush that will get in between teeth.  Many people neglect the inside of their teeth as well as their back teeth when they are brushing. You can also use dental floss or toothpicks to try to get to those more difficult areas.

You should be sure that you brush your teeth for five minutes or more.  Any less time and you are not reaching all the places in your mouth. That in itself can become a bad breath cause. You need to be aware that all toothpastes and mouthwashes are not created equal.

Some products that are to be used for oral hygiene make the problem worse instead of helping it.  You should use products that have baking soda and peroxide as their main ingredients.  These two products can help bad breath cause and allow you to feel more confident when you are having face to face conversations with colleagues or someone special you want to get to know better.