Aside from being merely something disgusting and displeasing especially when another person notices, bad breath can also be a sign that you are suffering from a certain disease. Know the possible causes of your bad breath including those that you may never have thought to give your breath an awful smell.
Food
Certain kinds of food are among the main reasons why your breath smells terrible. Cheese, garlic, onions, and spicy dishes are just among the many types of food that have a strong and persisting smell. People who eat such food can have an awful-smelling breath, but it usually goes away after brushing the teeth or using mouthwash.
Poor Dental Hygiene
Bad breath turns from a short term woe to a long term dilemma when you have a poor dental hygiene. Food debris gets stuck in between teeth and rots over time thus causing bad breath. Also, such matter can cause plaque buildup which by itself also smells terrible. Brushing of teeth must be done at least twice a day, or preferably every after meal. Washing with mouthwash is also highly recommended to get rid of the germs brushing alone cannot deal with. Flossing after eating also helps in removing food particles stuck in between teeth.
Tobacco Products
Smoking and chewing tobacco can cause bad breath because of its chemical content. Moreover, continued smoking can lead to health conditions such as gum disease and oral cancer, and these ailments also contribute to causing bad breath.
Certain Diseases
Since ailments causing bad breath were already mentioned, it is proper to emphasize on them. Truly, there are health conditions that include bad breath among their symptoms. Besides gum disease and oral cancer, other sicknesses causing bad breath are pneumonia, sore throat, bronchitis, diabetes, and liver and kidney problems.
Some Medications
There are medications that dry the mouth such as antihistamines, diuretics, and antidepressants. A dry mouth means there is lack or complete absence of saliva. Saliva washes away bacteria and particles that cause bad breath. Thus, medications that dry the mouth can cause bad breath.
Diet
Aside from those certain types of food that cause bad breath because they are by themselves terrible-smelling, there are also those that cause bad breath because of their functions or what they are comprised of. Types of food that are rich in protein as well as dairy products have high levels of amino acids, and bacteria which can cause bad breath feed on amino acids. Moreover, skipping meals and fasting can also cause bad breath. When you skip a meal or opt for a low-carbohydrate diet, fats are broken down and ketones are produced in the process. Ketones give off bad odor that can be smelled.
Mouth Breathing
Mouth breathing dries the mouth which causes bad breath. People sick with respiratory problems like asthma sometimes find it hard to breathe well, so they employ mouth breathing. People who snore and who suffer from sleep apnea also succumb to mouth breathing at times.
Every person suffers from at least an incidence of bad breath throughout his or her lifetime. However, there are no statistics projecting measurable data on bad breath since for a condition to be recorded, it must be reported.
