Bad breath, also known as halitosis, can be embarrassing. If it is untreated, then it can cause anxiety in some cases. There is no doubt that the whole market is overflowing with mouthwashes, mints, flavored gums, and more products to fight bad breath. These are only temporary bad breath removal products because they are not designed to remove the cause of the problem.
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The cause of bad breath is certain habits, food, and health problems. Many cases show improvement of bad breath only with maintaining proper dental hygiene. If the problem is not solved even by simple self-care techniques, book an appointment with the dentist to check if a more serious condition isn’t causing your bad breath.
If the patient is facing a bad breath problem, review the oral hygiene habits. Make lifestyle changes, like drinking plenty of water, using dental floss, and brushing your teeth and tongue after every meal.
After making these changes, if bad breath persists, need a dentist. If the dentist suspects a more serious problem is causing bad breath rather than an oral condition, they may refer to a physician to find the leading cause of the bad odor.
Many possible bad breath causes start in your mouth. They include:
If you don’t clean your mouth after having a meal, the food particles become stuck in and around the teeth, and it causes increased bacteria and results in a bad odor. Certain foods, like garlic, onions, and spices, also cause bad breath.
Smoking and tobacco cause an unpleasant mouth odor. Oral tobacco users and chronic smokers also have gum problems, another source of bad breath.
If you don’t clean or brush and floss daily, a lot of food particles are stuck in the mouth, resulting in bad breath. After that, plaque or sticky film of bacteria which is colorless, forms on your teeth. If it is not removed, plaque can irritate your soft tissues or gums and eventually form plaque-filled pockets between your teeth and gums, a condition known as periodontitis. The tongue also can trap a lot of bacteria that produce bad odors. Dentures that aren’t cleaned and fit properly can cause a bad odor because of accumulating food particles and bacteria.
Saliva has cleaning properties for the mouth by removing particles that cause bad breath. When saliva production decreases, the condition called dry mouth or xerostomia results in bad odors. While sleeping, the mouth becomes dry naturally, leading to “morning breath.” It can be worse if someone sleeps with an open mouth. If dry mouth persists for a long time, it can cause problems with your salivary glands and some diseases.
Some medications can also cause bad breath by helping to dry the mouth.
Infections or chronic inflammation in the sinuses, throat, or nose can sometimes cause bad breath.
Diseases, such as GERD or chronic reflux of stomach acids, some metabolic conditions, and some cancers can cause a breath odor because of the production of chemicals.
To remove bad breath, first consistently practice good oral hygiene, reduce gum diseases and help avoid cavities. Further treatment can vary depending on the cause of bad breath. If another health condition causes bad breath, the dentist will likely refer to a primary care expert.
Related to oral health, the dentist will help better control that condition. Dental measures may include:
The dentist will clean your teeth properly so that there will be no chance of bacteria or plaque in the mouth. So after the removal of dirt or bacteria from the mouth, no bad odor occurs.
If bad breath is due to bacteria or plaque on the teeth, the dentist may recommend a mouth smell solution or rinse that kills the bacteria. Also, recommend toothpaste with an antibacterial agent to help kill the bacteria that cause plaque production in the mouth.
Dental diseases often cause bad breath, so to remove the bad breath, the dentist refers the patient to a periodontitis or gum specialist. Gum disease can cause deep pockets that fill with odor-causing bacteria. Sometimes only specialist removes these bacteria. The dentist might also advise replacing missing teeth and restoration for decayed teeth, which leads to the accumulation of bacteria.
Visit your dentist regularly — generally after every six months — to have your teeth cleaned or be free of bacteria.
When yeast infection develops in the mouth, the condition is called Oral thrush. It is also called simply thrush or oral candidiasis, or oropharyngeal candidiasis.
It commonly occurs in infants and toddlers. Oral thrush causes yellowish or white bumps on the surface of the tongue and cheeks. It will go away once treatment is completed.
At an early stage, it doesn’t show any symptoms. But when the infection is worse, it may develop
Oral thrush can affect the esophagus, but it happens rarely. The same fungus can also affect other body parts through yeast infections.
Oral thrush is developed through yeast infections, and they are caused by an overgrowth of the fungus named candida albicans.
One or more of the following medications are prescribed by the doctor for the treatment of oral thrush
