The Bad Breath Blog

It’s incredibly common for individuals of all ages to suffer from dry mouth, and sometimes it can be a simple fix. However, other times that dried out feeling in the mouth and the back of the throat can be a side effect of a larger issue that should be addressed. From tooth decay to gum disease to diabetes, it’s important to determine the root cause of your oral health issues. As they say – the mouth offers an insight into the rest of the body.

Get hydrated

So you say you’re suffering from dry mouth. Well, the first thing to do is get ultra hydrated throughout the day. Most people don’t drink enough water as they should, and drinking coffee and soda drinks tend to make the body and mouth even more dried out – requiring more water. Start by drinking at least eight to 10 glasses of water each day. It’s much easier to drink a lot of water if you own a reusable water bottle and carry it along with you wherever you go. Need help keeping track? You could consider purchasing a water bottle with a dial on it that allows you count the bottles you drink as you go. Another trick is to wear eight rubber band bracelets and take one off for each serving of water. This can also kick your bad breath!

Go Natural

Did you know that your toothpaste and mouthwash could actually be the reason why your mouth is feeling dried out? Chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate, which is found in toothpaste, and alcohol, commonly found in mouthwash, actually cause dry mouth. If you swap these two things for natural toothpaste and alcohol free mouthwash, you may notice a dramatic difference! Your mouth will be feeling fresh and clean without the addition of unwanted ingredients that many people are unaware of in the products.

Still feeling dried out? This may mean that your dry mouth comes from some larger issue. You may want to consult a doctor or talk to a professional that can guide you in the right direction. Having dry mouth can also lead to other issues like bad breath, so swapping these habits will help anyone keep a clean and fresh mouth.

Having bad breath in public is the worst! But sometimes we don’t even realize that our breath is causing the room to quickly empty. You know how people often say “If it were me, I’d like to know about it.” well, it’s easier said than done. When someone around you is suffering from halitosis, and it’s making interactions difficult, it may not be as simple as it seems to give them the heads up. Here are a few creative ways to let anyone from your boss to your sweetie know they are stinking up the room:

Insult yourself

Even if it isn’t true, saying that you feel like your breath is smelly may actually have another person feeling like they are experiencing the same thing. You can ask the other person if they have any mints or gum, which will likely lead them to snack on one of these remedies as well. If you have gum or mints, offer the other person one as well. You may want to find a unique way of offering them this bad breath killer, so ask if they’ve tried a new flavor or comment on a stick of gum being your go-to. However, stay away from sugary gum, because even though it might kick the smell for a time being, it will just make it worse overall.

Make up a character

You won’t want to blurt out that the person you’re standing next to has awful bad breath, so it might be helpful to make up a scenario when you ran into someone with extreme halitosis. Tell the person you’re with about a person that you met in the waiting room of a dentist’s office with chronic halitosis who was there for a deep cleaning to help get rid of bad breath. Explain that she was there because she found out she had gum disease, but wasn’t aware of how bad her breath was. This story may have the person re-thinking their oral hygiene, but it also could just make the person feel like they need a breath mint – like how talking about food can make you hungry even if you really aren’t.

Discuss good oral health

If you talk to the person about how you always forget to use mouthwash or floss, although your dentist suggests that you do this everyday, it may raise their consciousness about his or her own poor oral hygiene. If it is your beau that has bad breath, lead by example and practice good oral health in front of the person as much as possible. After eating a meal, excuse yourself to floss or use mouthwash. Women may want to carry around a travel size mouthwash and offer it to the person with bad breath. They won’t feel embarrassed if you think you also have bad breath.

Talk about a new product

If offering a mint or piece of gum doesn’t give the person you are with a hint that their breath stinks, talking about a great product you’ve recently tried out may help them in the long run. You could tell the person about a new alcohol free mouthwash or natural toothpaste that has done wonders to your mouth. If you are talking about how much you love a product, the other person may be inclined to try it out as well. Unfortunately, this is more of a long-term solution, though, and won’t help out in the moment.

Do you constantly feel like you’re battling issues of bad breath, and nothing seems to work? Many people suffer from halitosis for various reasons, and you may want to determine where your own problems stem from to properly get rid of it. Here are a few suggestions that – even though they seem obvious – some people overlook.

Brush your teeth!

Obvious? Yes – but some people still don’t brush their teeth effectively to get rid of halitosis. When you were a kid, did your dentist ever tell you to use an hourglass to figure out how long you should be brushing your teeth – about three minutes? This rule still applies. If your brushing sessions are much more brief and you forget to floss and scrape your tongue, you’re not getting rid of all the bacteria in your mouth that causes halitosis.

Also, you need to make sure you are brushing your teeth at least two times a day! Throughout the day, you’re eating food, drinking sugary beverages or even smoking, which causes bad breath. If you aren’t cleaning out your mouth well enough, the bacteria in your mouth has a field day with the sugar and other “food” that gets left behind.

Scraping your tongue is just as important as brushing your teeth, because thats where bacteria gets caught in your mouth – gross! Using alcohol free mouthwash will also help eliminate this bacteria.

Avoid Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and alcohol

You may be surprised that the toothpaste or mouthwash that you’re using actually contains these ingredients that make bad breath worse! Even if it has a “minty” taste, these ingredients dry out your mouth, which leads to bad breath. Using a natural toothpaste will help dramatically with bad breath because it works to kill the bacteria that causes this issue without any added substances that are artificial.

Get hydrated

Drinking plenty of water is really important in helping fresh, non-offensive breath! Why? Because water helps wash down food that may be lingering in your mouth, plus it keeps your mouth moist. Saliva is a natural antibacterial that helps get rid of bacteria in the mouth because it flushes down food particles and sugar that is left on your teeth.

Look at labels

Chewing on gum or popping mints can actually be fairly addictive, but if you are prone to this habit, you should make sure there isn’t sugar that is causing bad breath. Even though these products are often labeled as “breath freshening” they are just quick fixes.

“Make sure to check the label and see that your gum is sugarless since bacteria in the mouth are apt to ferment sugar, thereby making your icky breathe even worse,” Dr. Mitchell told She Knows. “While you’re at it you might consider slashing sugar from the rest of your diet as well to freshen your breath.”

Stay healthy

Bad breath is very often a side effect of a larger problem, and common colds or allergies are big culprits. The excessive mucus in your nose and throat contain bacteria that causes bad breath, and if your nose is stuffed up you’ll likely be breathing through your mouth. This is a bad habit to fall into because it dries out the mouth and further creates bad breath. If you feel as though your sinuses are getting clogged, you may want to invest in bacteria-killing sinus drops and stick to a regimen of gargling with salt water. Salt water helps battle bad breath-causing, and will soothe your throat if it is irritating. It will also help break down thick mucus, which will help the breath become fresher and cleaner.

Do you feel like no matter how many times you brush your teeth, or how many mints you pop, your breath can clear a room? Halitosis, or bad breath, plagues more people than you might imagine, but luckily there are natural remedies that can help combat this issue.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate can treat bad breath in two different ways: as a drink or a rinse. For both remedies, you’ll need to let the peel of a pomegranate dry out (set it in the sun for the rinse and in the shade for the drink). For the rinse, you’ll take the dried out peel and let it soak in boiling water. Once the water cools down, it can be swished around in the mouth to battle halitosis. This is also a great remedy if you are suffering from canker sores.

If you’d like to try the pomegranate drink, take the dried out peel and toss it into a food processor until it’s a powder. Then, you’ll scoop about three grams into a glass of water – hot or cold.

Lemon and ginger

Lemon and ginger can be combined with warm water to make a mixture to be used in the morning and evening. You can mix one teaspoon of lemon juice and ginger juice into a glass of water and simply rinse. Either of these ingredients on their own can also be effective to battle bad breath, but combining them can be great for sufferers of chronic cases.

Parsley

Parsley is a great herb to get rid of stinky breath – why do you think restaurants put a sprig on your plate? You can simply chew on the sprig, or boil it in water for a drink. For the rinse, boil two cups of water and then add a few sprigs of fresh parsley. While this is cooling, you can add cloves and stir. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes and then use it to rinse or gargle.

The best cure for halitosis is maintaining a healthy mouth by brushing, flossing and using alcohol free mouthwash. By cleaning your entire mouth every day – this means your tongue too – you’ll get rid of the bacteria that causes smelly breath. 

Have you ever noticed that when you are stressed out or feel anxious that your mouth is dry and uncomfortable? Well, that’s no coincidence! Anxiety dry mouth is a real condition, and it affects people who suffer from a wide range of anxiety, from everyday stress to irrational fears and paralyzing phobias.

According to the Calm Clinic, anxiety dry mouth is caused by a lack of production in the salivary glands, and it is fear induced. Although anxiety attacks may only last about 10 minutes, they can still cause your body and mind go into an ultimate panic and your breathing to become irregular. During an attack, you are often breathing through the mouth, and typically at a very rapid pace, which could cause you to feel as though you are gasping for air. In these types of situations, bodily fluids like saliva are diverted to other areas of the body. This causes the mouth and throat to dry out, which can potentially be painful and holds the possibility of lasting much longer than the actual anxiety attack.

Dry mouth can be a symptom of stress, as well. Whether you are going through a major life change, like marriage or a big move, or just dealing with your job or traffic, stress can cause your mouth to dry out. Treatment of dry mouth that is caused by stress can be prevented by using a humidifier, drinking 8-9 glasses of water, taking a hot shower and chewing on sugarfree gum.

“Anxiety and stress wreak havoc on the body. There is an increased amount of stomach acid as a result of stress and anxiety,” Dr. Stacey Silvers of Madison ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery told Yahoo! Voices. “Testing, including my own office tests, has shown acid reflux to make it as high as into the back of the nose. Stomach acid is a pH of 2 and can kill off some of the healthy bacteria that we count on to keep our oral cavity healthy and hydrated.”

When dry mouth turns bad

When we have dry mouth, it decreases the amount of saliva in our mouth, which is supposed to be there to help rinse down bacteria that collect in our mouths. So not only do you have an uncomfortable sandpaper tongue, but the bacteria that causes bad breath is just sitting at the back of your throat. Yuck! Suffering from dry mouth because of anxiety or depression is difficult enough, but the last thing you want to worry about is having bad breath. Luckily, this is preventable.

Destress yourself regularly

Some people think that meditation is silly, but give it a shot. You don’t have to go to a specialized facility and sit in a room with a bunch of other people, because you can easily destress in the comfort of your own home. Go to a room without a television or any loud sounds. Dim the lights, and maybe light a candle. Just sit down in a comfortable position and breath. It sounds like nothing, but it’s not! Focus on counting your breath, because it will help keep your mind from straying away. Try to do this at least once a week, in whatever way you feel most comfortable. You can even destress by going for a run in the fresh air or taking a relaxing bubble bath.

In addition to urging your mind to remain calm, there are other ways to battle dry mouth. Refrain from using any mouthwash that has alcohol in it, because these types of products can actually exacerbate the issue. Make sure to use all natural mouthwash and toothpaste, which will rinse away any bacteria that can cause bad breath. Products like these will also help keep your mouth moist.