What causes bad breath?
SUMMARY: While halitosis is a popular topic in lifestyle-oriented news stories, many articles focus on a particular or unusual cause of bad breath. With that in mind, below is a list of the primary origins of bad breath, listed in no particular order because many causes are interrelated.
Posted: May 13, 2011
While halitosis is a popular topic in lifestyle-oriented news stories, many articles focus on a particular or unusual cause of bad breath. With that in mind, below is a list of the primary origins of bad breath, listed in no particular order because many causes are interrelated.
The first, and perhaps least commonly cited, cause of oral odor is dry mouth. While it is true that pungent foods can leave your palate reeking, most food-related halitosis emanates not from the ingested particles themselves but from oral bacteria that digest the food in your mouth.
With a dry tongue, especially one caused by smoking, sleeping with the mouth open, exercise or anxiety, microbes in the mouth can grow unchecked by saliva, which typically keeps them at bay. Using a mouth-moistening probiotics product, like the M-18 Probiotics Kit, can rinse away odor-causing bacteria and replace them with less harmful varieties.
Of course, food itself can cause halitosis. Consuming garlic, onions, scallions, savory meats, coffee, milk and alcohol may leave an aromatic tinge on every breath you exhale.
If oral bacteria are allowed to run wild for extended periods of time, poor dental hygiene can lead to tartar buildup and unsightly gums, all of which can leave the mouth smelling funky.