Bad Breath And How To Tell If You Have It!

                

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How to check if your breath is kiss-able fresh or is bad enough to stop a clock on the other side of the world no matter how clean and white your smile

OK, here?s the scoop on bad breath or as it's more formally called, halitosis. Smelly breath has ruined more romantic evenings than your white and bright teeth will ever make happen. It?s not to the point where I would say that if you ever hope to have a romantic, hot, passionate night with your favorite loved one, you're got to have a fresh mouth, but it?s close.

Notice this will NOT be a typical spiel saying that breath doesn't matter considering what?s done during those romantic adventures. Considering where our mouths usually end up during those trysts with our significant other, I can hear some guys say what?s the difference?

The difference is that someone with clean and fresh breath has a much greater chance of being kissed than someone with halitosis. To get interest from someone, we can't offend them! This means clean is preferred to smelly, and this goes especially for your mouth and fingernails. A clean mouth with white teeth and a great smile suggest a healthy person. Odors, especially here in the United States have a negative connotation and are not considered positive.

So without further ado, let?s take a look at how we can check our breath. One of the best ways to tell if you're breath is "less than great", is to ask a friend or close relative to just smell your mouth. Have them check to be sure the smell is coming from your mouth and NOT your nose. If the odor is from your nose, it's probably coming from your upper nasal passage. This can indicate an infection or sinus problem that should probably be looked at by your doctor. If the odor is from your mouth, chances are that a good cleaning can make your breath smell fresh and pleasant. An effective halitosis treatment is good dental health. Good breath by the way is actually neutral in smell.

The main causes of halitosis is poor dental hygiene. Food particles get stuck between your teeth then start to rot and smell. By regularly seeing your dentist and keeping up a regimen of brushing and flossing daily, halitosis will disappear as if by magic.

Assuming the odor is coming from your mouth, the next question would be what kind of odor? If the smell is a definite food type odor, a good brushing, flossing and mouthwash will do the trick. If however, the odor is more of rotting or definite unpleasant smell, it?s time for a more comprehensive cleaning.

Now if you don't have a good friend to check you breath, I have another idea that works almost as good.

Stick a clean finger in your mouth and rub your tongue as far back as possible WITHOUT making yourself gag. This will collect the saliva, bacteria and odor from your tongue. Next, run the saliva on the back of your hand and wait about a minute then smell your hand. If not something YOU would like to kiss, time to get out the toothbrush, dental floss and mouthwash.

You can have the whitest teeth and a bright smile but without dealing with bad mouth odor, no one will want to get around you. don't let dull teeth or smelly breath lower your kiss-ability potential!

Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects which include family, Health, and Home. For more info on bad breath and other oral hygiene issues go to http://www.4-home-teeth-whitening.com/halitosis.html and http://www.4-home-teeth-whitening.com

How to Get Rid of Bad Breath

                

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There are few things that are more embarrassing than bad breath. Some people suffer from chronic bad breath, halitosis, no matter what they do. Mints, mouthwash, gum ? none of it seems to help when bad breath is the problem. Do you know how to get rid of bad breath, once you?ve got it?

If you?ve been wondering how to get bad breath, the first thing you might want to work on is your own hygiene. Pay particular attention to teeth, gums, and tongue when you brush your teeth. Brush thoroughly and twice a day, finishing off with mouthwash. Keeping your mouth clean will prevent the bacteria that cause bad breath.

Another step in how to get rid of bad breath is to keep the mouth moist. This will keep bad breath from happening. Drink plenty of fluids, and keep hard candies (sugarless) on your person. This will create moisture in your mouth that will make odor from food bacteria go away. Keeping your mouth clean and moist is how to get rid of bad breath, so you can get as close as you want to get without having to worry about what other people are thinking of your breath.

Bad breath is often caused by the foods that we eat. If you?re having a serious problem with bad breath, avoid garlic, onions, and other aromatic foods that will create bad breath odors in your mouth. While these foods are healthy and delicious to eat, they can cause a severe case of stinky breath! You might want to save these foods for dinner, when it will be time to brush your teeth, and avoid them at lunch when you might need to make a good impression for business. Bad breath can be very bad for business!

Once you know how to get rid of bad breath, you can stop feeling so self-conscious and present clean, sweet-smelling breath to everyone you meet. Listen, no one wants to have bad breath. The good news is that, no one has to. You can get rid of bad breath, too.

Get Rid of Bad Breath for Good!

Bad Breath and Gingivitis

                

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 by: David Snape

Does this sound familiar to you? My dentist and hygienist mentioned that I had irritated gums as they cleaned my teeth. This is a symptom of gingivitis.

Gingivitis can be a stepping stone to major problems in the mouth and gum line. It can lead to periodontal disease, which is a much more serious problem with the potential for actual bone loss.

Halitosis (bad breath) could be related to a gingivitis infection as both are caused by bacteria. Red, swollen and/or bleeding gums characterize gingivitis. These symptoms are most evident upon flossing and sometimes from brushing.

Bacteria cause gingivitis. And bacteria are considered to be responsible for bad breath.

Sometimes, I could even see the bloodstains that the hygienist quietly wiped away with a towel. It was embarrassing enough to know that I wasn't controlling my gingivitis problem, but to know that she was actually trying not to make a big deal out of it was troubling.

I knew my dentist was concerned because she gave me a bottle of alcohol based mouthwash to try and mentioned that she wanted to see how I looked next time. I don't like using it; there is too much alcohol and the taste is not very pleasant. Alcohol may also dry the mucous membranes in the mouth.

The Problem

Bacteria can stick to your teeth and secrete acid onto them contributing to cavity formation. They can also infect the gums, particularly around the gum line, causing gingivitis. This can manifest initially as bleeding and irritated gums.

Having a lot of uncontrolled bacteria multiplying in the mouth may also lead to bad breath, but there is a natural and normal amount of bacteria in the mouth, and you will never completely get rid of them all, nor would you want to.

Theory has it that it is actually the anaerobic bacteria that live in the tongue and throat that produce sulfur that in turn produce hard to get rid of bad breath. These anaerobes create VSCs or volatile sulfur compounds. One type is the familiar rotten egg smell. There are other odors coming from VSCs as well. These sulfur-producing bacteria may feed on certain foods, like coffee, alcohol and meats.

A gingivitis problem can offer a way for bacteria to easily enter your blood stream and that can lead to additional problems. Systemic infections could come from this. Gingivitis can be something that makes your gums bleed easily in a mild case or it can be the root of deep gum recession, leading to bone loss in the worse case scenarios. (Periodontal disease)

Loss of gum line can be discouraging. A friend of mind once described the process as, getting long in the tooth". Sometimes, people experience this problem by brushing too hard. TIP: Using a soft bristled toothbrush with the type of motion that your hygienist recommends may help prevent eroded gum lines.

Treatment and Prevention

Had you ever heard of under-the-gum cleanings? This could be part of the protocol your dentist might invoke, should you develop periodontal disease. If you know people that have had an under-the-gum cleaning; they may tell you that it is not very pleasant.

Your dentist can deal with this problem in a variety of ways. However, prevention probably is the best option. Include good flossing and brushing habits - see your dentist for details. And you could add a non-alcohol based mouthwash alternative to your regimen.

I'm currently using a special toothbrush that uses vibration to clean the teeth. This device does a better job than a regular toothbrush in keeping my teeth clean. It does take a little while to get used to because of the vibration. It makes many, many vibrations per second. This helps to give it such wonderful cleaning abilities.

Don't feel sad if you have excellent oral health habits but you still have bad breath. This is common and many people experience this same situation. Oral health products that don't contain sodium lauryl sulfates or artificial flavors that can still kill the bacteria that cause bad breath without using harsh alcohol or tough chemicals may be helpful.

I am not a dentist. This article is for information purposes only. This article is not meant for diagnosis, treatment or prevention nor is it meant to give advice. If you have or suspect you have gingivitis, periodontal disease or any other dental problems, visit your dentist for a consultation.

David Snape is a health, fitness and well-being enthusiast. He maintains a site: http://tobeinformed.com on the same theme.

david@tobeinformed.com

How To Effectively Clean a White Tongue, the Cause of Bad Breath

                

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Have you ever noticed that sometimes you have a white tongue? A white tongue is something that nobody wants to have. Why? A white tongue not only looks abnormal, but if left untreated, it's a strong indication of a bad breath problem.

People who have a white tongue, also known as a geographic tongue, are definitely more likely to experience an abnormally colored tongue. Geographic tongue simply means a tongue that has lots of grooves and fissures in it. These grooves and fissures make an excellent breeding ground for the anaerobic bacteria that cause bad breath and a white tongue. Under certain conditions, a geographic tongue can be white, yellow, even black in color. A geographic tongue can also be coated and sometimes dry and cracked. The way around this problem is simply making sure that your tongue is kept as clean as possible. But...not all tongue cleaning is created equal.

Tongue cleaning or tongue scraping is a process that the majority of people in the United States don't do on a daily basis. Yet, it's one of the most important steps you can take to keep your breath clean and fresh!

MYTHS ABOUT CLEANING A WHITE TONGUE
MYTH #1: You have to scrape hard to clean a white tongue. This is false! You do not need to scrape your tongue so hard that it bleeds. In general, pressing harder does not remove more bacteria. You simply need to press hard enough that the tongue cleaner you're using is pressed flush across the surface of your white tongue. Try not to leave any gaps.

MYTH #2: Tongue Cleaning Alone Prevents Bad Breath. This is also false! Tongue cleaning alone does not kill the bacteria that cause bad breath that are breeding below the surface of a white tongue. It simply removes the gunk on the surface. This gunk (mucus and food debris) is a food source for anaerobic bacteria, the cause of a white tongue.

MYTH #3: You must use a complex, expensive gizmo to successfully clean your tongue. Again false! Really, all you need is a fairly rigid instrument, that you can easily make flush on the surface of your white tongue and cover the largest area possible. Those electronic tongue cleaners you see can be helpful if you have arthritis, difficulty with coordination, or in general have a a tough time performing some simple actions on tongue cleaning, which I'll outline below.

Tongue cleaning is really not that difficult to do, and it's not even very time consuming. That extra minute or two you spend on your tongue per day can reap huge rewards in preventing bad breath. It'll help prevent a white tongue, return it to it's normal color, and most importantly cut down on bad breath.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO SUCCESSFULLY CLEAN A WHITE TONGUE
STEP 1: Starting at the base of your tongue, place a tongue cleaner/scraper flush against your tongue's surface and make slow sweeping strokes from the back to the front. You can start at either side of your tongue and work your way across to the other side. Depending on the tongue cleaner you are using, you might need to make three to four different swaths across your white tongue.

STEP 2: Once the surface debris from your white tongue has been removed, apply a small bead of toothpaste to the head of your tongue cleaner. Make sure your toothpaste does not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate because this ingredient will dry out your mouth. I recommend using TheraBreath Oxygenating Toothpaste (http://www.therabreath.com/products.asp?CAT=3).

STEP 3: Gently coat the surface of your tongue (as far back as possible without gagging yourself) with the toothpaste. This allows the toothpaste to penetrate below the surface of your tongue and neutralize those sulfur-producing anaerobic bacteria. Believe it or not, there are more bacteria in the rear of your tongue than in the front!

STEP 4: Once your tongue is coated, allow the toothpaste to stay on the surface of your tongue as long as you can. Up to 90 seconds is ideal. If you begin to cough, or your gag reflex kicks in, that's okay, just spit whenever you need to.

STEP 5: Ideally, it's best to leave the toothpaste on the surface of your tongue, while you brush your teeth normally.

Following this routine daily gives you the most benefit possible in cleaning a white tongue. This routine will help prevent white tongue, keep your breath fresh, and give a geographic white tongue its best possible chance at maintaining the normal, healthy, pink color that everyone would like to have.

Dr. Harold Katz is the worldwide expert on the topics of bad breath, halitosis, and dry mouth. Searching for a bad breath solution? To receive your FREE copy of his easy-to-read "Bad Breath Bible" visit: http://www.TheraBreath.com/web/art/L-HTCWT.asp