Bad Breath: The Reasons Might be More than You Think

It’s happened before no doubt. You walk into a room, say hi, and people turn their heads away. They know it, but do you? Bad breath is often smelled by everyone but the perpetrator, which may make it hard for one to cease or prevent the terrible odor. Bad breath or halitosis can result from a plethora of problems such as dieting, working out, the food you eat, tooth decay or even diabetes! In the case you’re looking for a cure to become more sociable, here’s some possible reasonings and preventions for bad breath.

An unlikely but major factor to halitosis is, believe it or not, low carb diets. Those who are in the process of losing weight are likely to experience this oral phenomenon which is known as keto breath. Typically, your body consumes carbohydrates which produce energy when broken down inside your digestive system. Except, when you don’t require the necessary energy created by these carbs, your body stores them as triglycerides otherwise known as fat. When on a diet, the dieter attempts to force the body into burning triglycerides by abstaining from carbohydrates, and when triglycerides are broken down, they result in chemicals called ketones. One of these ketones, acetone, is produced in an abundance that your body expels through either urine or by exhalation. And this ketone, known as acetone, emanates an ammonia-like smell, resulting in bad breath. This is how dieting or working out can often result in bad breath.

Another contributor to halitosis, is obviously, the types of food you eat paired with less-than-adequate oral hygiene. Here are descriptions of some of the types of food that can produce a foul smelling mouth:

• Onions and Garlic: Even if they’re the most infamous foods for producing bad breath, few know why. The reason is because both onions and garlic contain many sulfur compounds which may linger in your mouth or are absorbed in the bloodstream and expelled when you exhale. It’s not the onions and garlic, it’s the sulfur.
• Coffee and alcohol: Alcoholic drinks and coffee produce a favorable environment for oral bacterial growth and through a drying effect which reduces saliva flow and allows foul-smelling bacteria to linger even longer. If you’re unsure of the aromatic condition of your mouth after drinking one of these, try flushing it out with some water or a mint.

Now you know the causes of bad breath, and in the case of remedies, brush and floss regularly and drink lots of water after a big meal or coffee. Water will both flush out and remaining food bits and encourage the production of saliva which will cleanse your mouth by breaking down forms of bacteria left on your teeth. Also, it could never hurt to carry around a spare package of gum or mints in case of emergencies!

If you have questions regarding your oral hygiene or any related dentistry, contact us! We’d be more than happy to help!