The medical term for Bad Breath is "HALITOSIS."

Halitosis is a social stigma. If someone has it people start avoiding that person, sometimes the intimacy between the spouses also get hampered, so it's not a small issue. Moreover it lands you up in an embarrassing situation many times. Through this article i would like to clear few doubts regarding bad breath and solution for curing it.

Everybody has got nasty breath at some point, like when you get up in the morning, its known as "Physiologic Breath." It happens because of stasis of saliva overnight. It can be easily tackled off by rinsing your mouth with either a mouthwash or brushing your teeth and then do eat something.

Now one very important thing with halitosis is people will not approach directly to tell you that you have bad breath, so how can one know by himself that he/she is suffering from it?

I will tell you a method which may sound gross but it is an effective way of knowing whether one has bad breath or not. 

  • Take a floss and floss your teeth.
  • Once you're done, if your floss smells or it has blood on to it, then there are foul odors in your mouth.

Now one of the biggest myth is that if one has bad breath then his/her children will also have it. NO this is not true. 

However, there is a clear connection between the frequency of brushing and bad breath as volatile odor producing sulfur compounds are washed off after brushing or rinsing off with a mouthwash. 

But here is an exception to it- GARLIC. It can make your breath smell bad even after you have brushed or rinsed with mouthwash because after it's digested, a smelly substance from garlic is being absorbed in your bloodstream and then transferred to your lungs, where it is expelled as a gas making your breath smell.

Interestingly drinking Green Tea which has other health benefits can also freshen up your breath. Polyphenols present in the green tea may protect against bad breath and caries.

Regular daily FLOSSING can prevent bad breath. However, there is a thumb rule in using a floss- One can only do effective flossing if the length of floss taken is between 12-18 inches as directed by NHS.

Even if one flosses and brushes everyday, they can still suffer from bad breath because bad breath can be a symptom of an underlying/ongoing disease or medical condition like respiratory infection, diabetes or liver and kidney diseases, etc.

Amount of saliva your mouth makes can affect your oral health and breath, as saliva washes the particles of food out of your mouth. People with Dry Mouth may have bad breath because they still have food particles stuck in their mouths.

Certain medications like Nitrates,some chemotherapy drugs and some tranquillizers often produce Dry Mouth which in turn lowers the salivary flow leading to bad breath.

Your TONSILS can be a reason for your bad breath, as debris caught in your tonsils can be a factor in bad breath.

Patients with dentures can also have bad breath as uncleaned or improperly cleaned dentures harbour a lot of bacterias and food remnants which produce foul smell.

Keeping a log of what you eat helps your DENTIST tin eliminating your bad breath problems.

A recent study has suggested that SCRAPPING OFF your tongue can reduce the bad breath.

Maintaining good oral health is essential in reducing bad breath,so be sure you schedule regular dental visits for dental cleanings and check ups. Brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste to remove food debris and plaque,and brush your tongue,too. Once a day use FLOSS or an INTERDENTAL BRUSH to clean between teeth. Talk to your dentist if you re concerned about bad breath. He/She can help identify the cause and ,if it is due to an oral condition,develop a treatment plan to help eliminate it.