Bad Breath Treatments
How to Prevent Bad Breath?
Bad breath is caused by a gas called volatile sulfur, which is the waste product of dead bacteria.
The bad odor in the breath is mostly from the mouth. An oral infection, advanced gum disease or bacteria that settle on food residues left in the mouth for more than a few hours can cause odor.
Other systemic problems that cause odor are: Tonsillitis, lung inflammation, sinusitis, diabetes (acetone odor), gastrointestinal diseases, kidney failure (fishy odor), liver and metabolism disorders. First of all, the cause of bad breath should be diagnosed and treated accordingly.
What to do in oral odors:
- All bruises are treated.
- Gum disease is treated. Pockets and calculus are eliminated.
- Impacted and semi-impacted wisdom teeth are extracted.
Apart from all these:
- Brush your teeth for 3 minutes after each meal and floss once a day.
- Keep your toothbrush in a dry and clean place and wash it thoroughly after use.
- The tongue is a tissue where bacteria can settle easily and be difficult to clean due to its very recessed and rough structure. Brushing the surface of the tongue and especially the back part of your teeth together with your teeth is important to prevent odor. If you are uncomfortable brushing this surface with a brush, clean the tongue by scraping it from root to tip using a clean plastic spoon. In addition, tongue brushes and tongue scrapers on the market will help you a lot to clean your tongue comfortably and properly.
Peppermint, mouth sprays or mouthwashes do not prevent bad breath, they only suppress it for a short time (5-7 minutes).
To prevent bad breath, a mouthwash prepared from 50% water and 50% hydrogen peroxide can have a positive effect.
In case of food-borne (garlic, onion, alcohol, etc.) odors, a glass of cold milk drunk on an empty stomach the next morning reduces the odor significantly.
For more detailed information about bad breath, you can check this link.