How To Cure a Bad Breath – 10 Tips

Looking for information on how to cure a bad breath? This is the place for you! Having a bad breath is generally not as deadly as many people make it. Bad breath (halitosis) occurs frequently as a result of a lack of appropriate dental hygiene, although common ingredients of certain foods or in rare cases a more serious systemic infection can result in having a bad breath as well. The most common sources of bad breath origin (ranking in popularity) are: the tongue, the cheek area, the gum, the nose, the tonsils, and rarely the stomach. Following are simple guidelines and tips on how to improve your oral hygiene:

How To Cure a Bad Breath

Brushing

Although this seems straightforward enough, surprisingly many people neglect proper brushing technique and frequency. In fact, a study carried out in the UK revealed that as much as 45% of the population does not brush after every meal or even twice a day for that matter. Besides the obvious advantage of a fresh feeling throughout the day, the more often you brush the less time bacteria have to reproduce and fester. To a large extent, too is the inability of persons to remember that frequent toothbrush changing is also important to overall oral health.

Flossing

Another underrated simple technique to significantly improve your oral health is regular flossing. Although brushing is important to remove large amounts of debris and bacteria from the mouth and tongue, flossing is what removes particles between teeth, where brushes can’t go. In addition to warding off possible gum disease, flossing has also been linked to improved cardiovascular health, although by an unknown mechanism. A great addition to many flosses is tea tree oil, which acts as a an antiseptic.

Keep Hydrated

It is a fact that germs multiply faster when the mouth is a bit drier. This is the reason why after sleeping through the night “morning breath” occurs. Every time you drink water or other liquids for that matter, you flush out bacteria promoting a fresher breath. This effect is only temporary however, and needs to be performed throughout the day.

Use a Toothpaste With Baking Soda

Apart from helping improve the brightness of your pearly whites, baking soda helps make the pH in your mouth more alkaline which makes it much harder for bacteria to live and multiply.

Avoid Eating Simple Sugars

Simple carbs are the most craved group of foods, with annual sales of these sugary goods exceeding the billions. The problem with these foods though is the ability of sugar to act as a growth medium for bacteria, in addition to possibly damaging dental enamel. Other foods in this same category include carbonated sodas, artificially flavored syrups and the evil ice cream treats.

Stop Bleeding Gums at The Root

Quite often, bleeding gums can easily be controlled by consumption of sufficient vitamin c. Vitamin c has been shown to improve gum integrity by unclear mechanisms.

Incorporate Spices Into Your Diet

A diet rich in spices such as cinnamon, peppermint and licorice are known to ward off foul mouth odors. These spices are thought to act as antibacterial agents, therefore inhibiting the growth of germs. In a study conducted in the USA, the popular gum Big Red was found to have more bad breath controlling properties than other similar gums, not merely by enhanced flavoring but also by proven antimicrobial efficacy. The only problem that resulted from this survey however, was the fact that it increased significantly risk of dental caries. In recent times, the advent of sugarless cinnamon gums seemed to alleviate this problem.

Avoid Problem Causing Foods

The top of the odor causing food chain are foods with garlic, which probably result in bad breath by virtue of their high sulphur content.

Using Probiotics

Although this is considered a relatively strange procedure, certain experts postulate that bad breath may also originate as a result of systemic treatment with antibiotics, causing a shift to the balance of beneficial: harmful bacteria. Probiotics help to introduce external good bacterial colonies into the body, possibly improving oral health

Using Antibacterial Mouthwashes

Finally, the use of mouthwashes is one of the most common practices used to improve bad breath. Generally any mouthwash is sufficient, but for more severe or resistant cases an antibacterial agent called chlorhexidine is used, with much success.

How To Cure a Bad Breath Summary

Once most of the above guidelines are followed, impeccable oral health should be within everyone’s grasp. Give us another tip on how to cure a bad breath by commenting at the bottom of this page.