Severe halitosis may strain marriage, mints hardly help

Though it is a personal problem, bad breath affects more than just its owner. Giving off a foul oral smell can isolate an individual from his or her friends, family and even marriage partner. As discussed in the advice column in the Omaha World-Herald, bad oral hygiene can wither intimacy and stall out an otherwise happy relationship.

In response to a recent query concerning a partner’s bad breath, the Annie’s Mailbox column takes a hard line on the topic. The concerned party admits that her husband has hardly brushed his teeth in a past decade, leaving him with powerful halitosis that quickly fills a room each time he opens his mouth. The paper recommends that she find a way to inform her husband of his oral condition immediately.

Like many with bad breath, the husband reportedly believes no one can detect any oral odor over his breath mints. Mints are an unreliable, temporary treatment for halitosis and, since they do little or nothing to stop the problem at the source, they are not a good long-term solution. Most mints or sprays simply mask the scent, and – as reported – often do a poor job.

Just as body odor must be showered away rather than repeatedly covered with cologne, bad breath may only be cleansed away when the mouth in scrubbed of odor-causing bacteria. By brushing twice daily and occasionally flossing, and by considering specialty breath freshening products that moisten the mouth and eradicate bacteria, halitosis and breath-related tension may be eliminated.