Preventing Bad Breath Smell: Dentist and Home Remedies for Halitosis

While it may sound like part of a song title from Mary Poppins, there is nothing ‘super’ about halitosis – it is just plain old bad breath smell. Even today, stinky breath is a common problem many people don’t even realize they have.

To dispel a couple of myths, like the bad breath smell test of holding your hand over your face, breathing into it and ‘smelling’ to see if you have bad breath; it’s ineffective – not surprising really - this bad breath smell test was part of a toothpaste promotion many years ago. Another myth is that simply brushing your teeth once a day or using a mouthwash stops all bad breath smell. It can work, but not for long.

Bad breath smell is something that can creep up on anyone, no matter what ‘bad breath smell test’ you try out. While there are many causes, persistent bad breath smell is usually the result of plaque or, more correctly, the flatulence gases of the bacteria that coat your teeth and gums (so no wonder it causes stinky breath!).

What you put into your mouth also has a big effect on bad breath smell, for example, eating any of the Alliaceae family of plants (garlic, onions, etc), drinking strong coffee, and of course smoking. While these can all leave a nice taste in your mouth, they also cause a bad breath smell from your mouth that gets up other people’s noses.

Steps for Preventing Bad Breath Smell

Regularly brushing your teeth and using mouthwash, (regular meaning after every meal), can certainly help combat bad breath smell. Regular visits to the dentist are also a must – both to help clean your teeth and to check for gum disease. However, there are other very simple, very cheap home remedies that effectively combat bad breath smell – simple things you can do to help keep your breath smelling fresh. These home remedies work by either helping to fight the build up of smelly bacteria in your mouth, or by providing a pleasant masking smell – and the good news is that all of these home remedies have the added benefit of being good for your overall heath.

• Eat some fresh cut, crunchy vegetables a couple of times a day. Fresh veg like baby carrots and celery are easy to carry around, taste nice - and reduce bad breath smells.
• Eat fresh fruits regularly, especially apples, oranges, and calamansi as these help your mouth to reduce bad odors – and again, are easy to have around, taste nice, and reduce bad breath smells.
• Chew on herbs and mild spices like clove, (remember the smell of the clove water in your dentist’s office?). These can help mask or even take away the odor of strong flavored, but stinky breath foods you’ve eaten. For example, chewing fresh parsley is great for taking away the smell of garlic from your breath.
• Drinking fresh fruit juices such as orange or pineapple is good for fighting mouth odor – but only if fresh. Try to avoid fruit syrups, cordials and soda as these do not have the same odor cleansing effect and are very high in sugar content, so they actually increase the chance of bad breath smell as they provide food to bacteria in your mouth.

If you find the above bad breath smell home remedies have little effect, you really should go to your dentist. Your dentist can give you a check up in case your bad breath smell may be the result of a gum or tooth disease. If so, these should be treated as soon as possible. This said, in almost all other cases, using some or all of the suggestions above can help to drastically reduce bad breath smell – unless of course you really want to ignore it and end up being nicknamed, ‘Supercalifragilisticexp-halitosis.’