Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a conversation with someone and suddenly you realize that they have the most discusting smelling breath you have ever experienced? I have and it was bad enough that it made me feel nauseous. The smell was so bad that it was extremely difficult to continue the conversation and to hide my body language and facial expressions, which must have clearly conveyed my discust to the other party.
The horrible order seems to invoke almost involuntary body responses. This is a very difficult situation to deal with as many people want to simply get away from the offensive odor as quickly as possible. Bad breath is especially difficult for others to deal with but it is important that it is dealt with on all levels both personally and as a friend, relative or coworker of an individual with the problem.
Your Breath is Your Responsibility
So what can be done about bad breath? First of all, each and every person has a responsibility to take good care of their teeth and to practice effective oral hygiene that will reduce the possibility of bad breath.
It is a common courtesy to make sure that your friends, family, and work associates do not have to suffer with a persons laziness and poor personal care. People who know that they have a problem with foul breath should recognize the fact and take care of the problem to the best of their ability. And to do their best to keep it in check. If they need help or do not know how to solve the problem on their own they should seek professional help from their personal phsician or dentist.
Let Others Know
When a person you know is faced with speaking to or dealing with another person who has bad breath it is important to address the situation rather than get away from it. Often times a person with the issue may have a medical problem that causes them to have bad breath and they are completely unaware of the odor in their mouth or the medical problem.
By telling someone they have bad breath you may be helping them to improve their health and could be saving their life. Even though this may be a difficult conversation to initiate it is important that you have a private conversation with the person for your benefit and their health.
One easy way to address the situation is to offer the person a piece of gum or a mint and gently tell them that they may need to see a physician to discover what their problem is. Another method is to ask the person if they are open to some personal feedback. If they say yes you will have an open door for a candid personal conversation with them. Another solution is to bring up the subject of bad breath and talk about its seriousness and then offer the mint or gum.
This should help most people understand they have a problem. Some people will require a very direct statement telling them they have bad breath and need to do something about it. All though this is a hard thing to do it is something that often times needs to be done.
