Bad Breath

Bad Breath

First, God made Adam. Then, He made Eve. And when the couple awoke the next day and got a whiff of each other’s morning breath, they discovered that the serpent wasn’t the only evil thing in the Garden of Eden.

The culprits were bacteria that live mainly in difficult-to-clean areas of the mouth such as between the teeth and on the top of the tongue. These bacteria like to feast on stagnant saliva or dying epithelial (surface) cells. As a result, they give off volatile sulfur compounds as a by-product. When the environment of the mouth becomes dry, these compounds, which smell like rotten eggs, evaporate and become airborne. Here’s how to ground them for good.

Try This First

Get in a scrape. Scrape that film of bacteria off your tongue with one of the spoon-shaped devices that are designed for this purpose, which are available in drugstores. Or just use a plastic spoon.

At first, you need to scrape the very back one-third of the tongue 12 to 15 times, says Jon Richter, D.M.D., Ph.D., director of the Richter Center for Breath Disorders in Philadelphia. But if you do it on a regular basis, 4 or 5 scrapes twice a day should help. Just relax your tongue, grasp it with a gauze square that you hold with your fingers, and pull it out gently, rather than just sticking it out. To reduce gagging as you scrape, breathe deeply through your nose to relax. “Scraping the tongue is the simplest approach and will produce the most dramatic short-term relief,” says Dr. Richter.

Other Wise Ways

Go for gargling. Gargle with a mouthwash for about 30 seconds every morning. It helps flush out those vile bacteria in a way that you might not be able to if you can’t overcome gagging with a scraper. “With gargling, you’re able to get quite far back. You really get to the back of the throat,” says Israel Kleinberg, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of oral biology and pathology at the School of Dental Medicine, State University of New York, in Stoneybrook. Look for products that contain zinc (the longest acting), sodium chlorite, or other formulations that kill bacteria.

Practice the basics. If you don’t clean your teeth, then you provide more of an environment for odor-causing bacteria to lodge, feed, and give off their noxious fumes, says Clifford W. Whall Jr., Ph.D., director of product evaluation for the American Dental Association. So brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss at least once a day to remove plaque and bacteria. It’s also important to make room in your schedule for regular visits to your dentist for professional cleanings and checkups. This will ensure that both your breath and your oral health are at their best, says Dr. Whall.

Don’t stop short. Brush for at least two minutes. “Most people don’t brush long enough,” says Dr. Whall. “You don’t have to brush hard, just thoroughly.” Make sure to brush the fronts and backs of your teeth, especially along your gumline. When you floss, gently scrape the sides of each tooth, pulling away from the gums.

Do right by your dentures. Dentures can absorb bad odors in the mouth, says Mel Rosenberg, Ph.D., secretary general of the International Society of Breath Odor Research and a researcher and associate professor at the Maurice and Gabriela Goldschlelger School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel. Unless your dentist tells you otherwise, always soak your dentures overnight in an antiseptic solution.

Clean your dentures every day, brushing them with a commercial denture cleaner, recommends Ken Yaegaki, Ph.D., clinical professor in the department of oral biological and medical sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. If you don’t have denture cleaner on hand, use toothpaste instead for one to two minutes. It’s not as good, but it will help remove odor-causing bacteria, Dr. Yaegaki says.

Keep those juices flowing. If dry mouth is contributing to your bad breath, you’ll need to kick your salivary glands into gear. One way to get your salivary glands going is to eat an orange or have some orange juice. The citric acid in the orange prompts the flow of saliva, says Dr. Kleinberg.

Even occasionally spritzing a little water in your mouth can help, adds Dr. Kleinberg. And be aware that although the acid in diet sodas can stimulate saliva flow, they can also erode tooth enamel. In some individuals with gum recession and exposed roots, this can result in erosion of some of the cementum (the covering over the roots), causing sensitive teeth.

Break the fast. Make sure you eat three meals a day. “Skipping meals is bad,” says Dr. Richter. The very process of eating helps scrape bacteria off the tongue and stimulates the washing action of saliva. Also, as the time lengthens between meals, the mouth gets a chance to dry out and bacteria builds up.

Favor odor-free eating. Maybe bacteria isn’t your problem. Maybe it’s your love of garlic or curry. As you may know from personal experience, some foods can linger for days because their oils are absorbed in the bloodstream and then released when you breathe. Munching on the pungent herb parsley can help mask their smell, says Laurent Chaix, doctor of naturopathy and supervisor of the teaching clinic at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. You can also do the sensible thing: If you know that you have an important meeting or social event coming up and you know that a specific food lingers, avoid it. Or, says Dr. Chaix, try to persuade whoever you’re with to partake in the garlic experience with you.