Bad Breath

Bad breath, also called halitosis can be embarrassing and in some cases a cause for anxiety.

There are plenty of chewing gums and mouth rinses that claim to reduce or eradicate halitosis but most of these address only the symptoms of malodours. They are only temporary measures as they do not address the causes.

The halitosis may also be accompanied by a disturbance of taste or unusual tastes in your mouth. This is because there can be a variety of causes of halitosis and they can be managed or reduced in different ways.

Most bad breath starts in your mouth and possible causes include:

Foods such as garlic, onions and other spices are common sources of aftertaste and malodour;

Smoking and a variety of smoking products can cause halitosis and smokers are more likely to have gum disease – another source of halitosis;

Poor dental hygiene – if you don’t brush and floss/ interdental clean your teeth, plaque and food particles stagnate in the mouth crevices and bacteria break down the foods to smelly byproducts. Your tongue and tonsils can also be areas of food particle stagnation; You may like to take a look at our page on tooth cleaning.

Dry mouth – saliva helps cleanse your mouth naturally. A dry mouth will not have sufficient saliva to help cleanse your mouth effectively and unwitting habits such as mouth breathing and snoring can exacerbate this effect;

Medications can cause halitosis where some release chemicals with odour and some dry your mouth by decreasing salivary flow;

Infections can cause bad breath – tooth decay and gum disease are preventable diseases that can cause halitosis, and poor healing processes may exacerbate this malodour;

Nose and throat conditions can create halitosis issues in and around the tonsils and sinuses;

Sometimes odours can arise from the stomach too;

Other causes such as cancers and metabolic disorders can cause alteration in breath odour or salivary flow.

If you have any concerns regarding your breath odour, the team at Atkinson Brignall Caring Dentistry can help you. We are trained to diagnose and help address the causes of halitosis. We can check the common causes of halitosis and offer simple, effective measures to manage and correct this.

Our hygienists can clean debris from the teeth and gums and help eradicate gum disease, and stabilise or maintain good oral health – all the time showing you how to help yourself and keep your mouth disease free.

Sometimes we can suggest contacting your general medical practitioner to ask if there are other alternative medicines that do not have the same effect on the metabolism or salivary flow.

Regular attendance at Atkinson Brignall Caring Dentistry in Sevenoaks will help us to help you avoid the causes of bad breath.