home Audience 1 Questions. Bad breath - causes and treatment

Questions. Bad breath - causes and treatment

Various terms. Stomatodysodia, ozostomia, halitosis, fetor oris - all these are names for the same phenomenon, which turns into a real problem. And if we are talking about an important meeting, then the situation can become completely catastrophic.

Many are trying to find ways to cope with this scourge. However, chewing gum and spray do not always look appropriate and decent, and they do not solve the problem. To combat the smell, you need to find out the cause.

Causes

First on the list of reasons is insufficient mouth hydration. If you don't drink enough fluids, your body can't produce the usual amount of saliva. Because of this, tongue cells die, which become food for bacteria. As a result, a disgusting smell appears.

In general, halitosis can be caused by any decay processes occurring in the mouth.

So, if pieces of food are stuck between your teeth, they will become a treat for bacteria, which will be just as happy that you didn’t spend enough time on hygiene.

It is well known that eating garlic and onions is also on the list of the main causes of unpleasant odor. But the cause of such a stench can also be diet. Thus, following strict diets bordering on a hunger strike can lead to the fact that your body begins to consume the fat it has stored for such an occasion. This process produces ketones, the presence of which will not be pleasant to the sense of smell. Many diseases, and various types, can cause halitosis. For example, damage to the lungs, liver, kidneys and diabetes. The latter is indicated by the smell of acetone.

By the way, you can determine what diseases you have by smell. So, if your breath smells rotten eggs- This is the smell of hydrogen sulfide, indicating rotting proteins. If abdominal pain, belching and nausea appear along with it, this may indicate an ulcer or gastritis. A metallic smell indicates periodontal disease, which can cause bleeding gums. The smell of iodine indicates that there is too much of it in the body and you should immediately consult an endocrinologist.

If there is a putrid odor, you should consider possible diseases stomach with low acidity. In case of dysbacteriosis, intestinal dyskinesia and intestinal obstruction, the smell of feces will occur. A bitter smell hints at kidney problems. Sour indicates gastritis increased acidity or an ulcer.

Caries, tartar, periodontitis, gingivitis, pulpitis lead to an unpleasant odor. Even dentures can affect the freshness of your breath, because without proper care they become a springboard for the proliferation of bacteria that produce waste products - sulfur compounds. Hence the disgusting smell.

Bacteria also have a cozy home on the tongue, in the areas between teeth and along the gum line. In the presence of diseases, depressions may appear at the transition of the gums to the teeth, the so-called periodontal pockets, where anaerobic bacteria happily live and multiply. Only a dentist can clean them.

Diseases of the nasopharyngeal mucosa are also a common cause of odor, as are all diseases associated with the ENT organs, which result in the formation of pus. With such diseases, a person is often forced to breathe through the mouth, which leads to increased dryness.

Bad breath often occurs in the morning. The reason is simple: less saliva is produced during sleep, resulting in dry mouth. The less saliva, the more bacteria in the mouth, the more unpleasant the smell. For some people, this phenomenon, called xerostomia, becomes chronic.

How to find out about a smell

There are different ways to find out that your mouth has an unpleasant odor. Worst option there will be a message about this from another person. However, there are ways to determine this yourself, but it’s not that simple. After all, a person usually does not perceive his own smell. The problem lies in the structure of the human body. When a person does not want to feel something unpleasant in the air around him, he, as a rule, begins to breathe through his mouth, which prevents him from smelling it. However, there are proven options.

Covering your mouth with your palms and breathing into them will not help: you will not smell anything. Better look in the mirror at your tongue. It should not have a white coating. You can lick your own wrist and smell it. Run the spoon over your tongue so that the saliva remains on it, wait until it dries and see if the smell remains.

Remedies

Remember that there is no way to completely and permanently eliminate bad breath. You will have to constantly monitor yourself and take appropriate measures.

Consume.
Buy a tongue scraper. Considering that the tongue is the habitat of a huge number of bacteria and this is the most common reason bad smell, it is recommended to use the scraper regularly.
Use dental floss. A considerable amount of bacteria collects between the teeth and on stuck pieces of food.
Eat the right foods. Apples, berries, cinnamon, oranges, green tea and celery are at the top of the list of foods that will help eliminate bad odor. Bacteria love protein very much and it is after consuming it that they emit a particularly unpleasant odor. Therefore, vegetarians have almost no problems with bad breath.
Use mouthwash. Rinse your mouth every day for 30 seconds, after which you should not smoke or eat for half an hour.
There is nothing more pointless than chewing gum when you have bad breath. If you need to chew something, you can choose dill, cardamom, parsley, cinnamon stick or anise. This is a significant aid for saliva production.
Use herbal infusions. Since ancient times people have been using natural remedies in order not to emit an unpleasant odor. So, in Iraq, cloves were used for this purpose, in the East - anise seeds, in Brazil - cinnamon. If we talk about our country, then these are St. John's wort, wormwood, dill, chamomile.
To decrease foul odor, you can drink a cup, rinse your mouth with water, and the taste in your mouth will decrease if you chew the coffee bean.
Have breakfast oatmeal porridge, which promotes salivation, because saliva is natural remedy cleaning and disinfecting the mouth.
If you don't have a toothbrush at hand, at least rub your teeth and gums with your finger. At the same time, you will not only reduce the unpleasant odor, but also massage your gums.
Wipe your gums walnut. This will give your breath a nutty aroma, and your mouth will receive the vitamins contained in the nut.

Prevention

You should visit the dentist at least twice a year for prevention and diagnosis. As with other diseases, dental and oral diseases are best prevented or treated early. early stage, when they are almost invisible and it is required experienced eye specialist to recognize them and take timely measures.

But the most important thing is to carefully monitor your oral cavity. Dentists say that the way a person takes care of his teeth and mouth can indicate how attentive he is to his own health.

Among all kinds of human shortcomings, imaginary or obvious, bad breath is not noticeable and unnoticeable in photographs, but it not only interferes with communication, but can also indicate serious problems with the body. In some cases, the situation worsens so much that we are not just talking about questionable freshness of breath, but we have to admit that our breath really stinks. What to do about this problem, and what to pay attention to first?

Halitosis - bad breath

The medical name for this symptom is halitosis. In this case, the smell can be different: sour, sweetish or even putrid. Mild halitosis can occur from time to time even in healthy person completely natural reasons. For example, by morning a soft plaque accumulates on the teeth, gums and tongue, which has a specific smell.

There is a common misconception that people began to pay attention to bad breath under pressure from insidious dental corporations, but before that, everyone was indifferent to dubious odors. In fact, even in the last millennium, when praising loved ones, poets mentioned fresh and fragrant breath as one of the elements of beauty. It's hard to think about the sublime when your counterpart's breath stinks. What to do and in what order to solve problems? First, you should put aside panic and understand the possible reasons.

Why does my breath smell?

It must be admitted that human body It smells, and not at all like roses. What causes odors? The sense of smell perceives the molecules of various substances in the air, and the type of these substances determines how pleasant or unpleasant the aroma is to you. For example, the contents of the intestine smell unpleasant due to hydrogen sulfide, methane, carbon dioxide and some other gases, which are waste products of bacteria inhabiting different sections digestive tract. The oral cavity is also home to microorganisms that are “responsible” for halitosis.

But if your breath really stinks, what should you do? Odor is a symptom that appears for any of these reasons:

dental problems;
diseases gastrointestinal tract;
endocrine disorders (diabetes);
diseases of the ENT organs;
pulmonary problems (for example, bronchiectasis).

It is more difficult to get rid of halitosis if it occurs due to a combination of heterogeneous causes. Dental problems may occur in combination with a stomach ulcer or other diseases digestive system.

Condition of the oral cavity

Dentists claim that they do not even guarantee the absence of bad breath. Many people simply brush their teeth poorly, do not reach the farthest corners, and a soft coating remains on the enamel, in which bacteria actively develop. The wisdom teeth and those adjacent to them suffer the most from this.

Over time, the soft plaque hardens and turns into tartar, which puts pressure on the gums, provoking an inflammatory process. When you have gum disease, your breath inevitably stinks. What to do? First of all, you need to remember that the absence of caries is not everything. It is necessary to brush your teeth thoroughly and regularly visit a dental hygienist to remove tartar.

Any inflammatory process in the oral cavity, sore gums, problem teeth - all this for the time being can proceed almost unnoticed, without critical pain. Halitosis, how main symptom, the first to indicate the presence of inflammation.

Gastrointestinal problems

If your breath smells suspiciously, the stomach may be the culprit. For example, if you eat garlic and then brush your teeth, it will still smell. Depending on the type of problem, an unpleasant odor may appear on an empty stomach, after certain types food, only in the evenings or in the middle of the night.

If the problem is in the digestive system, what can you do to prevent your breath from stinking? You need to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist to conduct an examination and clarify the diagnosis. If the smell appears on an empty stomach, then it will be enough to eat something light and neutral - perhaps it is increased acidity.

Halitosis as a symptom

Bad breath itself is not a disease, but an expressive symptom that signals problems in the body. There are cases when it was halitosis that made it possible to make a diagnosis in time and recognize a serious disease before it turned into serious condition. Difficulties begin due to attempts to quickly cure the symptom in order to get rid of awkwardness when communicating if your breath stinks very much. What to do in such a situation?

The most common reasons are, of course, dentistry, followed by the digestive system. Much less often, halitosis appears due to advanced sinusitis, and is possible as accompanying symptom for diabetes and other diseases.

How to determine if there is a problem?

The most unpleasant feature Halitosis is that the person suffering from it does not always smell and is blissfully unaware of the suffering of those around them. It becomes difficult to communicate with him, especially if the interlocutor prefers to lean too close to his face. It’s even more difficult for subordinates if the boss’s breath stinks. What to do and how to check the freshness of your breath?

The most simple technique- you need to lick your wrist and after a couple of minutes smell the skin. You can smell quite an unpleasant odor. As control test take a scraping of plaque from the tongue. Using a regular teaspoon, run it across your tongue, preferably closer to your throat. The slightly dried coating has a characteristic smell, which is what the interlocutor feels during a confidential conversation. A similar test is carried out using unscented dental floss - just clean the spaces between your teeth and smell the floss. Finally, you can ask a direct question to a loved one, especially if he does not suffer from excessive delicacy and does not hush up problems.

Oral hygiene

Dental hygienists say that more than half of their patients have no idea how to brush their teeth. This is why the chain of transformation of soft plaque into tartar begins, caries appears, gums become inflamed, and the breath stinks in the morning. What to do with this, we are taught from childhood - we need to brush our teeth twice a day, morning and evening, and the movements of the brush should not only be left and right. The spaces between the teeth are better cleaned by “sweeping” movements from top to bottom, and the gums are massaged in a circular motion at the same time.

Soft plaque forms not only on the surface of the teeth, but also on the gums, on the tongue, and even on inner surface cheeks Of course, you shouldn’t “scrape” the inside of your mouth too vigorously, as this can cause injury. soft fabrics, accidentally introduce an infection and only provoke the development inflammatory processes. After eating, just use dental floss and rinse your mouth; you don’t have to grab a toothbrush.

Ancient folk methods

All kinds of herbs, syrups, and lozenges were previously used to freshen breath. Part folk remedies included violet flowers, mint, rosemary, clove oil, anise, cardamom, extracts from berries and fruits. Pharmacists created proprietary formulas and kept the proportions of ingredients secret in order to attract buyers who wanted to add an exciting aroma to their breath. Nowadays it is enough to buy a pack of chewing gum to achieve the same effect. The only problem was the short duration of the aroma.

Even for a medieval beauty, the question of what to do if her breath constantly stinks did not become some kind of unknown mystery. Sick teeth were treated with varying success by all kinds of healers, and inflammatory processes were treated with decoctions and infusions medicinal herbs. These recipes still work today.

Rinse your mouth with medicinal purposes you can use sage infusion, pharmaceutical chamomile. If your gums become inflamed and bleed, a decoction of oak bark helps, pine needles, nettles.

Nutrition correction

If the smell appears after eating or on an empty stomach, then the culprit may be the diet. Diseases of the digestive system also require special diet, so changes in diet will not only improve the condition of the stomach, but also eliminate the unpleasant odor. If your breath stinks very badly after eating, what should you do about your diet? To begin with, you should exclude all foods with extreme tastes: salty, spicy, sour, smoked. You should be careful when handling raw garlic and onions. essential oils these vegetables may aggravate painful condition, A side effect becomes halitosis.

You can switch to a healthy and gentle diet even without a doctor’s recommendation - it’s worth replacing your morning sandwich with smoked sausage on a tender plate oatmeal, and observe how your stomach feels, and whether bad breath appears after such a breakfast. A visit to a gastroenterologist and a complete examination will help you make more reasonable adjustments to your diet.

Halitophobia

Commercial corporations have a somewhat different understanding of the postulate that everything in a person should be perfect, and they successfully manipulate the consciousness of the consumer. The natural color of teeth is not actually sparkling snow-white, and your breath does not necessarily smell like a bouquet of alpine herbs with a menthol note. The fear of not conforming to the replicated template can turn into a real phobia; a person feels like his breath stinks of rot, what should I do? Fear appears and gets worse panic attacks. A person suffering from halitophobia does his best to mask his breathing, brushes his teeth not only in the morning and evening, but also after meals, and in between meals continuously consumes chewing gum, flavored candies and lollipops.

Such a bouquet of chemistry sooner or later leads to the fact that instead of an apparent problem, a very real and real one appears. Phobias need to be fought, they do not go away on their own - on the contrary, the condition can worsen, and related fears appear. Fresh breath is great, but avoiding bad breath requires a reasonable amount of effort without being overzealous.

Unpleasant smell from the mouth is a very common occurrence among us. The reason for this is various diseases digestive system.

Bad breath is also a problem when communicating with other people. Modern medicine calls this condition when a person's breath smells extremely unpleasant - halitosis. In Latin - Halitoz.

In fact, halitosis cannot be called an independent disease; rather, it is a symptom pathological processes, occurring in the body. Lack of proper oral care bad smell intensifies, causing discomfort not only to the patient, but also to others.

In this article we will look at why bad breath occurs in adults, what are the main causes of this symptom, and how to get rid of it at home.

How to check if your breath smells?

Many people who have unpleasant, repulsive breath are not even aware of the problem. It’s good if a loved one or friend points it out. But this is not always possible, relatives are afraid of offending their loved one, and colleagues prefer to reduce communication with him to a minimum. But the problem remains.

There are several ways to test yourself:

Wrist test. Here it will be enough to lick your wrist and let the saliva dry. The smell you will smell after a few seconds is the smell of the front of your tongue. As a rule, it is much weaker than what it really is, because the front part of the tongue is cleaned by our saliva, which contains antibacterial components, while the back part of the tongue, in turn, is a breeding ground for unpleasant odors.
You can also try breathe into your palm and instantly smell what you exhale. Or try to stick it out lower lip, pushing your jaw forward a little, roll your upper jaw inward and exhale sharply through your mouth, then smell what you exhaled.
Spoon test. Take a teaspoon, turn it over and run it over the surface of your tongue several times. There will be some white residue or saliva on the spoon. The smell coming from them is the smell of your breath.

Additional signs include the formation of plaque on the tongue, inflammation of the mucous membrane, sensation bad taste in the mouth. These symptoms do not directly indicate halitosis and may vary depending on the cause of the disease and the presence of complicating factors.

Causes of bad breath

The causes of halitosis can vary significantly, but before you look for them, you need to make sure that this smell really exists. Modern doctors There are several types of halitosis:

True halitosis, in which unpleasant breathing is objectively noticed by people around. The reasons for its occurrence may be related to physiological characteristics, insufficient oral hygiene, metabolic processes in the body or be symptoms of certain diseases.
Pseudohalitosis is a subtle unpleasant breath that can be felt upon close contact with a person. Usually in such a situation the patient exaggerates the problem and it can be solved quite simply by increasing oral hygiene.
Halitophobia is a person’s belief that his breath smells, however, this is not confirmed by either the dentist or the people around him.

Also according to statistics:

80% of the causes of bad breath are related to problems in the oral cavity.
10% with ENT diseases.
only 5-10% with serious illnesses internal organs and systems - liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, organs respiratory system, hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders, autoimmune and cancer diseases.

The most basic thing to understand is that main reason the unpleasant odor emanating from a person’s mouth is a vital activity anaerobic bacteria(that is, bacteria that grow and reproduce without oxygen). Their waste products - volatile sulfur compounds - are those very smelly gases that smell very unpleasant and lead to bad breath in humans.

Why does bad breath occur?

But there are many reasons that lead to the proliferation of these bacteria. We will analyze them in detail:

Whatever various reasons did not cause bad breath, the source of all problems is bacteria. They are always in our oral cavity, creating a certain microflora there. Any living organism, and bacteria are no exception, when feeding, produces waste products, which are volatile sulfur compounds. It is these foul-smelling sulfurous volatile compounds that we smell from our mouths.

Experts believe that one of the most obvious reasons, causing its appearance, is white matter, accumulating on the back of the tongue. It occurs when a person brushes their teeth incorrectly, leaving their tongue unattended.

How to treat bad breath

In case of bad breath, treatment is separate topic for conversation, but what can be done to prevent it from appearing is important to know even for those who do not suffer from a similar problem. After all, bad breath, if it appears, cannot be masked with mint candy.

As noted above, food particles remaining after eating are soil for the growth of bacteria. That is why a lot depends on oral hygiene. It is recommended to take care that after eating food there are no pieces of food left in the mouth, which, among other things, contribute to the formation of plaque and tartar. This requires:

Brush your teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush three times a day to remove food particles remaining in the mouth and stuck in the teeth;
clean the interdental spaces with dental floss;
clean the back of the tongue daily with a soft-bristled brush;
to stimulate salivation, eat regularly fresh fruits and vegetables, adhere to the diet;
to eliminate xerostomia (dry mouth), rinse your mouth with warm water;
visit the dentist regularly.

At home, rinsing can help get rid of bad breath. vegetable oil. To do this, take a small portion of oil into your mouth and hold it there for 10-15 minutes. The oil has good property dissolve all rotting products. Then spit and rinse your mouth thoroughly. You can't swallow this oil! If the procedure is carried out correctly, the oil should become cloudy.

Infusions of herbs such as peppermint, string, caraway, and wormwood have the ability to remove unpleasant odors. To clean the pockets in the gums, it is good to rinse after meals with a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide, diluted 1:1 with water. Peroxide will clean even the deepest pockets well and eliminate the problem.

In addition to this, there is a large number of modern means quick disposal from bad breath: aerosol fresheners, chewing gum, lollipops, etc. They are characterized by both rapid efficiency and low stability due to their short duration of action.

Which doctor should I contact?

If you experience bad breath, you should contact your dentist and go through professional cleaning teeth, cure diseases of teeth, gums, get rid of tartar.

If there is no effect, you should consult a gastroenterologist, as well as more in rare cases- see an ENT doctor (for sinusitis or chronic rhinitis), pulmonologist (for bronchiectasis), endocrinologist (for diabetes).

Halitosis. Exactly official medicine refers to bad odor from the mouth. And it would seem that the problem of an unpleasant odor is far-fetched - nothing hurts, but living with such a “minor nuisance” is extremely difficult. Try to conduct all conversations with your eyes downcast in shame or covering your mouth with your hand, trying to protect your interlocutor from the bad aroma. Interviews, dates, friendly get-togethers – any more or less social event turns into the “Hide bad breath” quest. Why does such a problem arise at all? How to deal with it?

How to find out if you have bad breath

Because the modern society Since the majority of people strive to maintain polite relations between people, few people will inform their interlocutor about the bad smell from their breath. But the overwhelming majority will prefer to exclude the “stinker” from their social circle. To avoid getting into such awkward situation, it is advisable to conduct a self-diagnosis to determine if there is an unpleasant odor. There are several ways to do this:

exhale deeply, covering your mouth and nose with your palms - a sharp unpleasant odor will be clearly noticeable if there is one;
put on a disposable medical mask and 2-3 minutes. breathe in it. This method allows you to definitely detect the presence of halitosis;
gently scrape off back surface a whitish coating on your tongue and smell it. It allows you to most accurately determine the smell of your breath;
lick your wrist and after 5-7 seconds. smell it. This smell is approximately what others smell;
ask loved one, best of all - a child. Children are the least likely to hide the obvious: if a person's breath smells bad, they will readily tell him about it.

Finding out what your breath smells like is easy. The main thing is to have the determination to face the truth: after all, there is little pleasure in understanding that until this moment those around you had to inhale “garbage aromas” during a conversation.

Causes

Medical institutions use special gas analyzers to determine the cause of bad odor based on a chemical analysis of exhaled air. But not every clinic has such devices and, moreover, not all people will want to visit the hospital just because of halitosis.

You can try to independently identify the cause of bad breath. Often the main factor provoking the occurrence of halitosis is a disease of the internal organs.

What smells	Possible illness
pus	active form of tuberculosis, rhinitis and sinusitis, abscesses and malignant neoplasms in the lungs
urine	kidney disease
acetone/sweet overripe fruits	diabetes mellitus (often a threat diabetic coma), problems with the pancreas
feces	intestinal obstruction, dysbiosis, dyskinesia
rotten eggs	gastritis, ulcer, gastric diverticulum, in a “good” case – simple overeating
sour	gastritis, diseases of the digestive tract
rottenness	diseases of the oral cavity, advanced caries

Any of these diseases requires an immediate visit to the doctor: self-diagnosis is a sufficient contribution to treatment on the part of the patient, the rest should be handled by a specialist.

Sometimes an unpleasant odor is caused by a person’s poor lifestyle and some of his habits, such as:

Poor oral care. Plaque accumulated on teeth is the source of a very unpleasant aroma. It is possible to brush your teeth well at all times: even with all your efforts, it is impossible to remove food debris from the interdental spaces with a regular brush. The situation is aggravated by wearing braces - this is one of the main reasons why bad breath appears in children.
Starvation. The body of a person adhering to a strict diet is experiencing a real crisis. In the absence of food intake, blood sugar levels drop significantly, which leads to the breakdown of glycogen, “borrowed” from the liver and muscles. After a day of fasting, glucose begins to be produced from non-carbohydrate components. Due to the unnatural way of obtaining glucose from body tissues, waste products are formed. One result is disgusting breath.
Smoking. Nicotine and tobacco combustion products themselves do not smell very pleasant. In addition, regular smoking leads to dryness of the mucous membrane and the occurrence of various dental diseases.
Nutritional features. Fresh onions, garlic, and alcohol give a distinct odor from the mouth. Other foods, such as carbonated drinks, meat, milk, provoke a change in the pH level in the body and disrupt the acidity in the mouth, which over time leads to halitosis.
Hormonal surges. The smell can appear during “typically female” periods of life: menstruation, pregnancy, menopause. At this time, the amount of sex hormones changes sharply, which affects the properties of saliva.

The appearance of halitosis can be caused by many factors. And if it is quite easy to independently establish the connection between an eaten head of garlic and an unpleasant odor, then only a doctor can determine the presence of some diseases.

How to eliminate bad breath

Getting rid of halitosis includes several areas:

mandatory treatment of concomitant diseases;
quitting smoking and alcohol abuse;
careful care of the oral cavity (use of dental floss, alcohol-free rinses, irrigator);
taking medications that normalize hormonal background(only as prescribed by a doctor);
self-control over nutrition (it is not necessary to exclude garlic from the menu, but before an important meeting you don’t have to chew it);
carrying out therapeutic fasting Only in consultation with your doctor, avoid strict diets.

Until halitosis is completely defeated, the smell needs to be muffled somehow. There are several techniques to make your breath fresh:

Every morning 5-8 min. rinse your mouth with vegetable oil.
After snacks, brush your teeth.
Use sugar-free gum or mints.
Rinse your mouth with infusions based on strawberry leaves, chamomile, fresh dill, St. John's wort, and oak bark.
Use special mouth rinses (most of them prevent the formation of plaque on teeth, which reduces the risk of unpleasant odor).
Chew parsley, basil leaves, dry cloves, mint or dill seeds throughout the day: these plants even eliminate the obsessive smell of tobacco.
Drink aromatic coffee or freshly brewed herbal tea.
Chew a coffee bean. The effect will last for several hours.
There are a lot of watermelons, berries, oranges, lemons, grapefruits. These snacks will help create an unfavorable environment for bacteria to grow in your mouth.
Take care of proper nutrition. The menu must include fresh apples, carrots, and celery: active chewing of solid food will provoke increased salivation and help cleanse oral cavity. For the same purposes, you should drink more water.

Halitosis is a problem that needs to be eliminated before it drives a person into a deep shell of social fears and low self-esteem. Very often, one trip to a good dentist is enough to start opening your mouth without fear.

Many people are familiar with the situation when, when communicating with a person, you want to cover your mouth with your palm. It’s especially offensive when bad breath causes an interrupted kiss, problems in communication, or even problems at work. This phenomenon called halitosis, and it is not as harmless as it seems.

9 Causes of Bad Breath – So Why Is Your Breath Bad?

Sooner or later, everyone experiences halitosis. It pretty much ruins our lives and sometimes makes us give up our desires and intentions. Where do the legs of halitosis “grow” from?

Let's list the main reasons:

Insufficient hygiene.
Advanced caries and other dental diseases.
Taking medications.
Microbial plaque on the teeth and tongue.
Wearing dentures.
Decreased saliva secretion.
Smoking.
The smell remaining after eating certain foods (alcohol, fish, seasonings, onions and garlic, coffee, etc.).
Consequences of diets.

Halitosis as a symptom of serious diseases - be attentive to yourself!

In addition to the above, there are more to the appearance of halitosis. serious reasons. In some cases he may be unkind a sign of any disease.

For example…

Gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis and other gastrointestinal diseases (note: hydrogen sulfide smell).
Chronic tonsillitis, tonsillitis or sinusitis.
Pneumonia and bronchitis.
Kidney diseases (note - the smell of acetone).
Diabetes mellitus (note - the smell of acetone).
Gallbladder disease (bitter, unpleasant odor).
Liver diseases (in this case, a specific fecal or fishy odor is noted).
Tumor of the esophagus (note - smell of rot/decomposition).
Tuberculosis in active form(note - the smell of pus).
Kidney failure (note: “fishy” smell).
Xerostomia caused by taking medications or prolonged mouth breathing (putrid odor).

It is also worth noting pseudohalitosis. This term is used when talking about a condition when a person with fresh breath“I imagine” an unpleasant odor in my mouth.

How to detect bad breath - 8 ways

In most cases, we ourselves know that we have bad breath.

But if you want to know for sure (maybe you just think), there are several ways to check:

Observe the behavior of your interlocutors. If they move to the side, turn away when interacting, or persistently offer you candy and chewing gum- there is a smell. You can also just ask them about it.
Bring your palms to your mouth in a “boat” manner and exhale sharply. If an unpleasant odor is present, you will notice it immediately.
Pass regular cotton floss between your teeth and smell it.
Lick your wrist and, after waiting a little, smell the skin.
Scrape the back of your tongue with a spoon and smell it too.
Wipe your tongue with a cotton pad and sniff.
Buy a special tester device at a pharmacy. With its help, you can determine the freshness of your breath on a 5-point scale.
Pass the special examination at the dentist.

Remember to test In a few hours after using odor masking products (rubber bands, pastes, sprays) and at the end of the day.

Modern medicine in the treatment of halitosis

Nowadays there are quite effective methods diagnosis of this disease.

The use of a halimeter which, in addition to diagnosis, also helps in assessing the success of treatment for halitosis.
The composition of dental plaque is also examined.
And the back of the patient's tongue is examined. It should match the color of the oral mucosa. But with a brown, white or cream tint, we can talk about glossitis.

Considering that in most cases true halitosis is one of the symptoms certain disease,It’s worth seeing other doctors:

ENT consultation will help exclude polyps and sinusitis.
On a visit to a gastroenterologist We find out if there is diabetes, problems with the kidneys/liver or gastrointestinal tract.
At the dentist We eliminate foci of infection and remove bad teeth. A course of professional oral hygiene at the same time as removing dental plaque will not hurt. When diagnosing periodontitis, the use of special irrigators is usually recommended.

9 effective ways to get rid of bad breath at home

You have a meeting soon, you are expecting guests or going on a date...

How can you quickly eliminate bad breath?

Most elementary way- brush your teeth. Cheap and cheerful.
Freshener spray. For example, with mint flavor. Today such a device can be found in any pharmacy. Just throw it in your bag and keep it handy at all times. It is enough to spray 1-2 times into the oral cavity, and you don’t have to worry that they will run away from you after a minute of communication. Choose a spray with preventive properties(protection against the formation of tartar, plaque, caries).
Rinse aid. Also useful thing for teeth and mouth. In addition to the fact that it freshens breath, it also has an additional function - protection against plaque, strengthening teeth, etc. But do not rush to spit it out right away - hold the liquid in your mouth for at least 30 seconds, then its effect will be more pronounced.
Refreshing sweets. For example, mint candies. Great benefit They won't taste good given the sugar content, but it's easy to mask the smell.
Chewing gum. Not the best useful method, especially if you have stomach problems, but perhaps the simplest. Chewing gum outside the home is even easier to find than candy. The optimal flavor is mint. It is most effective at masking odor. To avoid harming yourself, chew it for a maximum of 10 minutes, only after meals and without dyes (pure white).
Mint, greens. Sometimes it is enough to chew a leaf of mint, parsley or green salad.
Fruits, vegetables and berries. The most effective are citrus fruits, apples, and bell peppers.
Other "camouflage" products: yoghurts, green tea, chocolate
Spices: carnation, nutmeg, fennel, anise, etc. You just need to hold the spice in your mouth or chew one clove (a piece of nut, etc.).

And, of course, do not forget about the prevention of halitosis:

An electric toothbrush. It cleans your teeth much more effectively than usual.
Dental floss. This “instrument of torture” helps remove “remnants of feasts” from the interdental spaces.
Brush to remove plaque on the tongue. Also a very useful invention.
Moisturizing the oral cavity. Constant dryness in the mouth can also cause halitosis. Saliva has antibacterial properties, and a decrease in its quantity, accordingly, leads to an increase in the number of bacteria. Keep your mouth sufficiently moist.
Decoctions for rinsing the mouth/throat. You can use chamomile, mint, sage and eucalyptus, oak or magnolia bark. The latter is best for eliminating this problem.
Nutrition. Avoid eating garlic, coffee, meat and red wine. These foods lead to halitosis. Excess of fast carbohydrates is the path to caries and plaque on teeth, give preference to fiber.
We brush our teeth twice a day for one and a half to two minutes, choosing brushes of medium hardness. We change the brush at least once every 3 months. It is also recommended to purchase an ionizer-sterilizer for your brush - it will disinfect your “tool.”
After eating, be sure to remember to rinse your mouth. Preferably, a decoction of herbs, a special rinse or tooth elixir.
We visit the dentist once every six months and solve dental problems in a timely manner. Don’t forget to get examined by a therapist for chronic diseases.
Toothpaste choose one that contains natural antiseptic components that can reduce bacterial activity.
Drink more water.
Treat bleeding gums promptly- It also causes an unpleasant odor.
If you have dentures remember to clean them thoroughly every day.

If, despite all your efforts, the smell continues to haunt you - ask specialists for help!

Website website provides background information. Adequate diagnosis and treatment of the disease is possible only under the supervision of a conscientious doctor. Whenever alarming symptoms consult a specialist!