Why Does the Mouth Bad Breath and How to Get Rid of It?

Bad breath, also known as halitosis or fetor oris according to scientific or medicinal terms, is a bad odor that comes out of your mouth or mouthparts like teeth, throat, and many other parts. Bad breath is often considered a symptom of hidden health problems and needs professional attention. Bad breath can also develop due to a number of reasons- sometimes they may result from bloating or problems indigestion, and sometimes the bad odor from the mouth may come out due to poor dental habits and unhealthy lifestyles. Once you notice a bad odor coming out of your mouth, it is highly advisable for an expert dentist or any registered medical practitioner.

What is All About Bad Breath?

Bad breath or bad odor comes out of your mouth sometimes due to the consumption of foods that contain strong odors like onions or garlic. When these foods break down into smaller particles within the mouth, they give rise to bad breaths. Moreover, the broken-down food particles enter into our blood flow and enter into the lungs and thus can also regulate the inhale and exhale breaths.

It has also been found that irregular food habits, lack of proper brushing and cleaning your mouth with mouth fresheners, flossing and gum cleaning can also lead to the development of bad odor from your mouth, because when the particles of the food you have remained in your mouthparts and the corners of your teeth that increase the activities of harmful bacteria inside your mouth and this cause the bad breath.

Common Causes of Bad Breath

Poor dental hygiene

If you avoid regular brushing or healthy dental practices like flossing, plaque removing and so on, then you are likely to develop dental problems that will give rise to bad breath from your mouth. This is because, when you keep your mouth dirty and un- rinsed for a long while, then the harmful bacteria break down the food particles within your mouth and this causes further decaying of food substances in your mouth. This in due course leads to the development of a bad breath from your mouth.

Experts and dentists always advise brushing your teeth twice daily and keeping your mouth clean to avoid bad odor problems.

Sugary foods and beverages and foods with strong smell:

Drinking foods and beverages containing high levels of sugar or artificial sweeteners in them, for example, coke, tea, or coffee, can cause tooth decay and increase bad odor from your mouth. Moreover, having foods with very strong smells like onion or garlic can also increase the chances of bad breath.

Smoking

Smoking in huge proportions is another major cause of developing bad breaths because the cigarettes smoke often causes your mouth to dry out and directly affects the odor of your breath by getting mixed with the respiratory system of your lungs which can further worsen the odor of your breath.

Dryness of mouth

Dry mouth is another cause of bad mouth odor. When your mouth becomes dry, it indicates that the internal portions of your mouth cannot produce enough saliva to keep your mouth wet and clean, and this condition increases the chances of bad breath. Dry mouth can be a symptom of many underlying health problems and this needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Periodontal disease

Periodontal disease is a type of gum disease that develops from the dirty plaque inside your mouth and increases the bad odor of your breath.

Some other reasons behind bad odor from the mouth:

There are some other reasons and some hidden diseases that can be considered responsible for the bad odor of your mouth. Some such reasons are as follows:

• Infection in the sinus
• Pdrainage
• Chronic bronchitis and pneumonia
• An infection in your upper or lower respiratory system or any damage to the lungs
• Stones in the tonsil gland
• Kidney stones or renal failure
• Liver diseases like liver cirrhosis or liver malfunctioning
• Type 2 diabetes or high blood sugar levels
• Sleep apnea or insomnia
• Gastro- esophageal reflux disorder (GERD)

Treatments Of Bad Odor From Mouth:

1. Brush Your Teeth Twice Daily

When you have your food, the food particles remain in the corners of your teeth and other parts of the moth, like the mouth pockets that do not get away by simply rinsing your mouth. When these food particles remain inside your mouth for a longer period of time, they get converted into plaque and this enhances the growth of harmful bacteria in your mouth that is responsible for the bad odor of the breath.

So dentists and experts always advise brushing your teeth twice daily, preferably with a fluoride-containing toothbrush, and cleaning your mouth thoroughly after having a meal each time to keep your mouth free from bad odor. Try to renew your toothbrushes after 2 to 3 months and avoid using the same toothbrush after recovering from a disease, because the toothbrush might contain the germs of the disease that you have been suffering from.

Apart from these, you can also use a mouth freshener and do flossing in between the teeth to remove harmful plaque-causing bacteria, leading to further gum problems and food particles from the mouth and corners of your teeth get rid of bad breath and other dental problems as well.

2. Clean your tongue

Sometimes it can happen that your tongue may be covered by a layer of bacteria that is responsible for creating a bad odor from your mouth. Try scraping your tongue surface every day with a scraper while washing your teeth to remove the bacteria from the surface of the tongue. According to experts, this will certainly help you to reduce the bad smell of the breath coming out of your mouth. In case, you can also use an anti-bacterial mouth cleaner to remove the plaque and tongue bacteria.

3. Avoid foods that make you smell obnoxious

There are some foods that usually contain strong smells and this can regulate the smell of your mouth after you consume them. Some such foods are onions and garlic. Though these foods are healthy to have, they can result in sour smells from your mouth because these food particles control the odor of your breath as it travels up your lungs. Try avoiding many onions or garlic-based foods before going out in the public.

4. Stop smoking and avoid chewing tobacco- based substances

Smoking not only damages the internal portions of your mouth and gums but also causes lung and oral cancer. Cigarettes contain tar and nicotine that causes great damage to your lungs and makes your breath smell bad by darkening your mouth, gums, and teeth. Moreover, when inhaling the smoke coming out of cigarettes, then it mixes into your breath travels down into the lungs, and makes your breath smell odd. Thus, to reduce the bad odor of your breath trying to avoid smoking and chewing tobacco-based substances.

5. Avoid having sweets after meals and chew gum instead

Try to skip having sweets or any other sugar-based foods after dinner and supplement it with chewing gums or mints containing xylitol. This is because, experts say that when you have sugar-containing foods, you are increasing the bacterial activity that is responsible for causing plaque and thus gives a bad breath out of your mouth.

6. Keep your gum and mouth healthy

Whenever you feel to develop gum disease, try to get it treated by an expert dentist or any registered medical practitioner. This should be certainly done because gum problems and disorders increase the bad odor of your mouth by increasing the growth of harmful bacteria on the mouth surface.

7. Keep your mouth wet

When you keep your mouth dry, you are at a greater chance of developing bad breath from the mouth. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep your mouth moistened. If you feel that you cannot avoid the dryness of your mouth, you should consult your dentist or medical caregiver to treat the condition in order to get rid of bad breath.

Some Other Methods To Treat Bad Odor Of Mouth

• Consult your dentist at least twice a year for regular check- ups.This will be a genuine help because whenever the dentist will notice a problem, it will get treated immediately.
• Doctors and experts always advice to eat plenty of fresh fruits and green, leafy vegetables and foods rich in powerful antioxidants like apples, carrots, celery, turnip, and other fruits and vegetables and reduce consuming beverages with artificial sweeteners and junk food to reduce bad breath.