Halitosis, fetidity is the fetid breath odor. All we have met and talked to people whose breath was bad. The truth is that one of four people suffer from halitosis (the medical term for bad breath), and at aged persons this percentage may even reach 50%.
Halitosis is usually caused by improper dental hygiene.
There are also other factors that may be involved: gum diseases, salivary gland diseases, respiratory tract infections: throat, nose, lungs, sinuses; improper diet, constipation, smoking, fever, diabetes, indigestion, inadequate protein digestion, liver or kidney dysfunction or alcohol abuse.
Bad breath occurs in most cases when dental hygiene is poor or neglected. The smell is caused by food particles left in the mouth coming into decay. For this reason, dental hygiene should not be neglected, as well as flossing. But remember, when you brush your teeth, wash also your tongue.
Viewed under a microscope, the tongue is like a fluffy carpet. It has millions of filaments in which tiny particles and bacteria is caught so you must ensure that the tongue and other areas of the mouth are cleaned as well as the teeth.
Using mouthwash is not necessarily the best idea, because it removes bad breath only temporarily. It is still useful as emergency solution if for eg. you have to go to a romantic dinner after leaving the office and you have no toothbrush with you. However, remember that only masking the odor with mouthwash you will not resolve the problem.
Although it seems hard to believe, but the best weapon against bad breath is saliva. Dry mouth, often caused by certain diseases or medications, may entail bad breath. So after we wash out mouth, saliva is one that helps remove odors. You wonder why your mouth smells bad in the morning? Saliva is to blame or rather the lack of it. (low production of saliva during sleep)
In such situations it is useful also the sugarless chewing gum, because it stimulates the production of saliva. When you chew gum, saliva will be more and more, and saliva means less bacteria in the mouth. Mouth saliva not only washes away bacteria, but contains enzymes and antiseptic substances that attack the bacteria.
As we are aging, the risk of dehydration increases more and more. You may not realize that you are thirsty, and you are so making a habit of drinking water, because the water keeps low the level of bacteria in the mouth. Drinking water has many benefits, and preventing bad breath is one of them.
After an examination provided by our doctors free of charge, you can get more information about this condition.
