Test yourself for bad breath

You're always on the go, and sometimes you may not have enough time to keep your mouth as fresh and healthy as it should be - but you should always make time to clean your mouth! With a coffee in hand and a quick bagel on the go, you may not realize that your breath can stink up a room. Having bad breath is sometimes a sign of being unhealthy, but in most cases this ailment stems from not brushing, flossing and rinsing well enough. Here are some tricks and tips to test yourself for halitosis:

Tongue scrape
You may have heard that it is very important to scrape the back of your tongue to keep your mouth fresh and free of bacteria. So it makes sense that performing a self-test would include the same area of your mouth. Although this technique can't be done on the go, it will give you an accurate reading of your bad breath. You'll want to take a spoon and turn it upside down to scrape the very back of your tongue. It may be a little gross, but you should have a thick whitish material on the spoon. From this sample, you'll be able to tell if you have halitosis or not.

If you're on the go, try this method with one of your fingers and just rub the back of your tongue as far back as you can. This will also tell you what your breath smells like.

Wrist method
You've probably heard that you can determine if you have bad breath by licking the back of your wrist, and it actually works! Although this method won't produce the same results as scraping the back of your tongue with a spoon, this is a simple and quick way to determine your breath quality. You'll want to simply lick the back of your wrist and let it dry for a few seconds. Then, smell it.  You'll know right away if you need to get rid of halitosis.

Pull your cheek
This method may seem a little chilly, but it does work! With your fingers, pull your cheek away from your teeth and then push them back toward your teeth. Repeat this action a few times while simultaneously breathing out. You'll be able to smell your breath if it is bad.

Breathe in a cup
This method is similar to breathing into your hands to determine if you have bad breath. You'll want to take a plastic cup and breathe into it for a minute. Then, you'll simply smell the cup.

So you've noticed that your breath isn't too pleasing? You can reach for a stick of gum, but it's important to make sure there is no sugar in it. Sugary gum just feeds the bacteria in your mouth that is causing bad breath, even if it claims to be minty fresh. Sugarfree gum helps produce saliva in your mouth, which will rinse away smelly bacteria. Also, make sure to avoid alcohol because it just promotes dry mouth, which leads to bad breath. This also includes mouthwash! Many mouthwashes that are traditionally found in the store have alcohol levels higher than a beer or glass of wine. Just like your body, your mouth reacts much better to natural ingredients. You'll notice a great difference if you use natural toothpaste and mouthwash.