6 Easy Ways You Can Deal with Bad Breath

Bad breath, medically called halitosis, is a pretty common problem amongst people and can go on to affect your self-image and confidence in the personal as well as professional setting. While the cause could be an underlying medical condition for some, others may experience it because of poor oral hygiene. Here are some simple tips that can help you deal with bad breath once and for all:

1. Maintain proper oral hygiene

Brushing your teeth is extremely important as plaque (a biofilm formed by Streptococcus mutans and other anaerobic bacteria) starts to form 4 to 12 hours after brushing. If not brushed regularly this layer of plaque can calcify and convert into hard calculus. Due to the overload of bacteria in the mouth, the person suffers from bad breath. It can be reversed to normal if proper oral hygiene is maintained. Along with brushing, you must not forget to clean your tongue either, from the back of the brush or with a tongue scraper.

2. Keep your oral cavity moist

Those who have a dry mouth tend to have bad breath as well. In order to deal with a dry mouth, keep sipping small amounts of water regularly or consume over-the-counter lozenges. If dry mouth persists, you should consult your doctor to diagnose the underlying condition causing it, if any.

3. Avoid foods that lead to bad breath

There are certain foods such as onions and garlic that result in a bad breath. Try to limit their use, especially in your dinner.

4. Quit smoking

Smoking tobacco leaves a foul smell in your mouth and also stains your teeth. Furthermore, smoking makes your oral cavity dry, thus enhancing bad breath. Quit smoking completely and your breath should return to normal slowly.

5. Mask the bad breath

In order to get a quick solution for bad breath, chew on mint candies or chewing gum as they can change your breath for a short period of time. Apart from this, you may also use mouth freshening sprays or swish once or twice with a cosmetic mouthwash. Don’t overuse these products though ? if you experience bad breath often, then you should try to understand the root cause and fix that instead.

6. Visit a doctor

If you have distinct urine-like, fruity or ammonia-like breath, then you must visit a doctor and get yourself examined properly as it may be happening because of an underlying medical problem. Visit your dentist if you are a mouth breather as they would provide you with an oral screen to curb that problem.

For more information, read our article on bad breath.

Health articles on News18 are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.