Bad breath often strikes when people aren't properly taking care of their oral health. The odor is usually caused by decaying food particles and bacteria in your mouth. That's why brushing and flossing your teeth is so important, but don't forget to gently brush your tongue to get rid of even more bacteria.
Chew gum like it's going out of style.
Believe it or not, saliva is your best weapon against bad breath. That's why dry mouth, often caused by certain medications or medical conditions, leads to odor problems. By washing away food particles and bacteria, saliva helps to eliminate odor, too.
Bad breath is usually caused by oral bacteria.
Halitosis is usually caused by anaerobic bacteria that live in a person's mouth.
For the majority of people (85 to 90% of those who have bad breath [halitosis]), the single most frequent cause of their breath odor problem is associated with bacteria that live in their mouth. Bacteria, just like humans, go through their lives consuming foods and excreting wastes. The waste products produced by some oral bacteria are sulfur compounds and it is this type of odoriferous waste product that usually lies at the root of a person's breath problems.
Avoid smoking / alcohol / spicy food
Smoking is one of the primary causes of bad breath. When you smoke the chemicals in the smoke create a lining on the tongue which causes a lingering smell of stale tobacco. The only remedy for this is to kick the habit. Watch VJ's "Tops Tips For Giving Up Smoking" for more on this. Dehydration - a common side-effect of drinking alcohol - can make bad breath worse, so if you drink a lot try cutting down your intake. Also avoid foods containing a lot of garlic, onion and strong spices, as the smell of these can linger on your breath.
Bad breath cure
It is obvious from this that there is no one easy bad breath cure, but, interestingly, bad breath remedies used by our grandparents are still very popular and often work quite well, usually by reducing the amount of bacteria in the mouth. One home remedy is to dissolve baking soda in water and wash the tongue with this. Another traditional bad breath cure is to rinse the mouth with lemon juice diluted with water, although this remedy may actually encourage bacteria growth since lemon juice does contain some sugar. Several different herbs are recommended as breath fresheners, among them aniseed, cloves, rosemary and thyme, all of which can be chewed or used as tea when stewed in hot water.
