Bad Breath
In most cases when a person has bad breath aka halitosis, it’s mostly because it’s a buildup of germs and bacteria in the mouth. This can be caused by a whole array of problems and things such as plaque, gum disease, eating certain foods, food debris (left over food from not brushing or flossing) or even the coating on the tongue or back of the mouth. One of the best ways to keep bad breath at bay is to use good oral hygiene; make sure you brush twice daily, as well as floss, use a good mouthwash, consider also what you are eating and drinking as well. For some more of common dental questions regarding bad breath, there are also may be other factors at play, some of which can be found below! If you or your loved one has bad breath, it could be because of one of the factors below.
Medications
Sometimes when you use certain medications one of the side effects can be dry mouth or cotton mouth. This is essentially a lack of saliva in the mouth. If the problem becomes too bad, you can try to see if you can be switched to another medication, or you could try to fix it on your own by chewing sugarless gum or candy to try and introduce saliva or a certain wetness back into the mouth.
Bacteria Causes Bad Breath
Bacteria is one of the biggest causes of bad breath. Usually bacteria churns out noxious gasses that taste or smell weird, but they tend to eat the food and other bacteria in your mouth (such as good bacteria) and break down the saliva in your mouth. When you are sleeping at night, the flow of saliva will slow down and cause bad breath because of the lack of saliva and the production of bacteria. Some people have more good and bad bacteria in their mouth than others, but the ones that have more bad versus good, tend to be the ones that have bad breath.
Smoking
Most of the time when you have a nonsmoker versus a smoker, the nonsmoker can tell if the other person is a smoker, by the way their breath smells - like an ashtray as some people say. Unfortunately, stopping smoking is the only real cure to get rid of bad breath, not smoking less or slowing down. Smoking, by the way, also increases the risk of gum diseases, as well as chew, which can also cause bad breath as well.
Medical Issues
Most of the time when someone has a disease or medical issue, it won’t cause bad breath, however, some instances do happen such as a sinus infection because that has to do with a bacteria in the sinus part of your body and it’s a bad bacteria which tends to smell awful. The odor and even the bacteria can flow down to your mouth and cause it to smell bad. Sometimes infections of the tonsils, mouth or even neck can also cause bad breath. Chances are if you have bad breath and you notice it personally when you breathe in and out, it might be a good time to see a doctor, because chances are it’s something more than just bad breath, it could be an actual medical issue you need to see someone about and get taken care of.
Fish Odor Syndrome
This is a very rare disease, but it is worth being noted. This causes an individual’s breath and essentially their body PH to smell like a rotten fishy smell. By the way, this is NOT the same as when you take Omega 3, 6 or 9 and you burp up a fishy smell. This Fish Odor Syndrome is an actual disease. It happens when your body loses the ability to break down trimethylamine which is a chemical compound found in some types of food. The buildup of trimethylamine can then result in a smelly fish odor in the urine, sweat glands and even your breath.
Medications
Sometimes when you use certain medications one of the side effects can be dry mouth or cotton mouth. This is essentially a lack of saliva in the mouth. If the problem becomes too bad, you can try to see if you can be switched to another medication, or you could try to fix it on your own by chewing sugarless gum or candy to try and introduce saliva or a certain wetness back into the mouth.
Bacteria Causes Bad Breath
Bacteria is one of the biggest causes of bad breath. Usually bacteria churns out noxious gasses that taste or smell weird, but they tend to eat the food and other bacteria in your mouth (such as good bacteria) and break down the saliva in your mouth. When you are sleeping at night, the flow of saliva will slow down and cause bad breath because of the lack of saliva and the production of bacteria. Some people have more good and bad bacteria in their mouth than others, but the ones that have more bad versus good, tend to be the ones that have bad breath.
Smoking
Most of the time when you have a nonsmoker versus a smoker, the nonsmoker can tell if the other person is a smoker, by the way their breath smells - like an ashtray as some people say. Unfortunately, stopping smoking is the only real cure to get rid of bad breath, not smoking less or slowing down. Smoking, by the way, also increases the risk of gum diseases, as well as chew, which can also cause bad breath as well.
Medical Issues
Most of the time when someone has a disease or medical issue, it won’t cause bad breath, however, some instances do happen such as a sinus infection because that has to do with a bacteria in the sinus part of your body and it’s a bad bacteria which tends to smell awful. The odor and even the bacteria can flow down to your mouth and cause it to smell bad. Sometimes infections of the tonsils, mouth or even neck can also cause bad breath. Chances are if you have bad breath and you notice it personally when you breathe in and out, it might be a good time to see a doctor, because chances are it’s something more than just bad breath, it could be an actual medical issue you need to see someone about and get taken care of.
Fish Odor Syndrome
This is a very rare disease, but it is worth being noted. This causes an individual’s breath and essentially their body PH to smell like a rotten fishy smell. By the way, this is NOT the same as when you take Omega 3, 6 or 9 and you burp up a fishy smell. This Fish Odor Syndrome is an actual disease. It happens when your body loses the ability to break down trimethylamine which is a chemical compound found in some types of food. The buildup of trimethylamine can then result in a smelly fish odor in the urine, sweat glands and even your breath.