Halitosis, it stinks!

Don’t worry, everybody’s breath is a little off first thing in the morning. This is due mostly to dehydration. We don’t swallow as much in our sleep, we sometimes mouth breathe and we go for several hours without drinking water. This allows more plaque than usual to accumulate and release volatile sulphur compounds, which tend to smell like rotten egg gas. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have a big glass of water before breathing on or speaking to anyone first thing in the morning.

Have you flossed lately? If you haven’t flossed for a while and then decide to clean up your act, you might notice that the plaque you’re removing from between your teeth smells like….poo. There is actually a type of plaque bacteria known as “faecalis” – perhaps that explains it? Plaque also accumulates on your tongue. It can be scraped off with a made-for-the-job tongue scraper – sometimes the only way to get a smoker’s tongue clean again, or you can just use your toothbrush. There’s no need to buy the rubber bristle-backed toothbrushes being pushed as the latest must have mouth gadget, just brush your tongue with a standard toothbrush.

So if you’ve tried drinking more water, flossing and brushing daily, even tongue scraping and things aren’t improving then maybe there’s more to your problem. Consistent and seriously bad breath could well mean you have serious dental problems – periodontal disease or a dead tooth. Other culprits to consider include infected tonsils, gastric reflux, medications which dry your mouth such as antidepressants, diuretics, and of course, smoking.

Wash your mouth out

Most comm ercial mouthwashes only mask the smell temporarily and when used long-term can make the problem worse. This is due to the large alcohol content and additives designed to make the mouthwash taste better and look better on the supermarket shelf. Even the mouthwashes recommended by your dentist can seem to be effective at first, but used long-term can negatively impact on the microbial balance in your mouth.

There are some natural mouthwashes, based on essential oils and containing no synthetic additives, sweeteners or colours, which I would happily recommend but again, using a mouthwash is not going to resolve a deep-seated halitosis. The only way to successfully treat halitosis is to first determine the cause, deal with it and then make the necessary changes to your lifestyle to prevent its recurrence – improve your diet, give up smoking, pay more attention to oral hygiene, use natural dental products free of fluoride, sodium lauryl sulphate and other additives and have your teeth checked regularly.