The problem of halitosis, or unhealthy breath, has troubled human race for hundreds of years. Do you know that the traditional Greeks apparently used home remedies to cure bad breath like rinsing with wine, anise seed, and myrrh, whereas the Italians used to gargle from cinnamon, juniper seeds, root of cypress, rosemary leaves, etc.
Bad breath can be a real put off for the person standing next to you or talking to you directly. The main areas from where unhealthy odor arises are mouth (tongue, gums), stomach, tonsils, nose, and esophagus. It’s additionally thought of as an indication of poor health condition.
When you consume food having a sturdy odor, such as onion or garlic, odor remains in your mouth and doesn’t flee even after you do brushing and flossing as they’ll simply take away the odor temporarily. The odor is removed fully only if such foods are passed out of your body.
What Causes Bad Breath?
1. Poor Oral Hygiene
The commonest explanation for unhealthy breath is poor oral hygiene. Microorganisms that build up on your teeth, tongue, and gums release unpleasant-smelling gases. These bacteria are to blame for gum malady and dental caries. If you do not floss and brush your teeth on a regular basis, any food stuck between your teeth are counter mined by the bacteria and is responsible for bad breath.
2. Dry mouth
Also known as Xerostomia, may cause bad breath. Saliva helps in moistening and cleansing the mouth, and once the body doesn’t produce enough saliva, bad breath might result. Xerostomia could also be caused by salivary gland tissues, connective tissue disorders (Sjögren’s syndrome), medications, etc. Dry mouth can sometimes be caused by a drag within the salivary glands or by respiration through your mouth rather than your nose.
3. Medications
Some medications will indirectly results in bad breath by causing xerostomia (dryness). These include: tranquillisers (phenothiazines), nitrates – these are typically used to treat angina, chemotherapy drugs, etc.
4. Smoking and Tobacco Products
Smoking is another reason behind bad breath. Smoking makes your breath smell bad, stains your teeth, irritates your gums, and also affects the sensation of taste.
It may also considerably have an effect on the development of gum malady, another major explanation for bad breath. Stopping smoking can lower your risk of gum malady and hance cure bad breath.
5. Pregnancy
Being pregnant in itself doesn’t cause bad breath, however, nausea and morning sickness common throughout pregnancy might cause bad breath. Additionally, hormonal changes, dehydration, and intake of completely different foods because of cravings may lead to bad breath during pregnancy.
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6. Miscellaneous causes of bad breath
Some of the diseases like cancer and metabolic disorders cause a distinctive breath odor as a result of chemicals they produce. Chronic reflux of stomach acids (gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD) can be related to bad breath. Bad breath in young kids is generally caused by a foreign body, like a chunk of food, lodged in a nostril.
Unknown Facts About Bad Breath
- About 60% of women and 50% of men depends upon breath freshening products.
- The tongue is the most common site for bad breath.
- VSCs – volatile sulfur compounds
- VSCs are found to be increased during starvation, intake of coffee, consuming alcohol and after smoking.
- VSCs tend to produce an unpleasant rotten egg smell.
- Bad breath causes a significant social handicap; it impairs social, sexual and activity interactions.
Scenario of Bad Breath in India
- Nearly fifty million Indian adults suffer from halitophobia, an imaginary fear of having unhealthy breath.
- Bad breath sufferers are 60% more probable to suffer from stress than non-sufferers.
- 57% of bad breath sufferers report feelings of depression due to their downside.
It’s easy to improve your breath and keep your teeth and gums healthy at the same time.
Some Effective Ways to Cure Bad Breath
1. Brush and Floss More Often
Plaque, the sticky build-up on your teeth attracts microorganisms that causes bad breath. Cornered food conjointly adds to the matter. Brush your teeth a minimum of twice every day, and floss a minimum of once to treat bad breath. If you are concerned regarding your breath, do each somewhat more usually. Don’t exaggerate things, though. If you sweep too arduous you’ll traumatize your teeth, making them prone to decay.
2. Rinse Your Mouth Out
Besides freshening your breath, a gargle adds additional protection by getting eliminating microorganism. A fresh minty taste will cause you to feel good. However make sure the gargle you decide to choose kills the germs that cause bad breath, do not simply conceal the smell. Rinse daily with a decent gargle and stop unhealthy breath at its source.
You can conjointly help your breath if you swish your mouth with plain water once you eat. It will eliminate food particles that bog down in your teeth.
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3. Scrape Your Tongue
The coating that commonly forms on your tongue is a host for stinking microorganisms. To eliminate them, gently brush your tongue together with your toothbrush. If your brush is just too massive to comfortably reach the rear of your tongue, attempt a scraper. “They’re designed specifically to use even pressure across the surface of the tongue space. This removes microorganism, food detritus, and dead cells that brushing alone cannot look out of,” says hygienist Pamela L. Quinones, past president of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.
4. Avoid Foods That Sour Your Breathe
Onions and garlic are huge offenders. However, brushing after you eat them does not facilitate the bad breath. The substances that cause their unhealthy smells build their approach into your blood and jaunt your lungs, wherever you breathe them out, says the dental practitioner Richard value, DMD, a spokesperson for the American Dental Association. The best way to stop the problem? Avoiding them before you head to work or see friends to avoid bad breath.
5. Kick the Tobacco Habit
Besides inflicting cancer, smoking will harm your gums, stain your teeth, and give you bad breath. Over-the-counter nicotine patches will help tame the urge. If you would like a bit of help, make an appointment with your doctor to speak concerning quit-smoking programs or prescription medications which will assist you in quitting tobacco permanently.
6. Skip After-Dinner Sweets and Chew Unsweetened Gum Instead
The microorganism in your mouth loves sugar. They use it to form acid. This wears down your teeth and causes unhealthy breath. Chew unsweetened gum instead. “Gum stimulates secretion, that is the mouth’s natural defense mechanism against plaque acids, that cause dental caries and unhealthy breath.
7. Keep Your Gums Healthy
Gum disease causes bad breath. Bacteria furls pockets at the bottom of the teeth, that creates an odor. If you’ve got gum disease, your dental practitioner might recommend you see a periodontist, who makes a specialty of treating it.
8. Moisten Your Mouth
You can get tooth decay and bad breath if you do not make enough saliva. If your mouth is dry, drink lots of water throughout the day. Chew sugarless gum or suck on sugar-free candy. Additionally, attempt a humidifier at the hours of darkness to moisten the air in your house.
9. Remove Dentures
If you wear dentures, take away them at night time and clean them to obviate bacterial buildup from food and drink.
10. Crunching and Munching Helps
Fiber rich raw vegetables and fruits act as natural floss for your oral health. The best sorts of crunchy foods contain ample water and need lots of chewing. The water helps offset the sugar content, and therefore the mastication gets our saliva flowing, that helps move food out of nooks and crannies. Saliva contains traces of calcium and phosphate, that facilitate to revive minerals to our teeth. ‘Good’ crunchy foods can also wipe off plaque-causing bacteria.
Best Home Remedies to Cure Bad Breath
1. Green/Black Tea
Green tea and black tea have polyphenols which fight against microorganisms that are responsible for causing bad odor within the mouth. Further, rinses may be made by preparing a herbal infused tea in the usual manner, or by merely stirring herb powder into water. Hold the rinse in the mouth for some seconds or up to several minutes, gargle, and spit out.
2. Water
The Superhero for your teeth! Water cleans mouth and produces saliva which deposits essential minerals on the teeth. It washes away food particles from the teeth, keeps gums hydrous, and keeps your saliva levels high. Saliva is really your mouth’s best defense against dental caries because it contains proteins and minerals that naturally fight plaque and if you stay hydrous, you have got an unlimited supply of it. Drink plenty of water before you sleep to cure bad breath.
3. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple vinegar is a reliable cure for many ailments and disorders and bad breath isn’t any exception to the very fact. Here, you can use it as a mouth gargle. Put some apple vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle with it for around ten seconds before you spit it out. It’ll cleanse your mouth completely while treating bad breath or the whole unhealthy odor present in it.
4. Whole Grains
Whole grains contain B vitamins and iron, that keep gums healthy. Further, the magnesium that’s a crucial ingredient for bones and teeth. Additionally, whole grains are high in fiber. High-fiber foods keep saliva flowing, which create mineral defenses against caries. Foods like bran, brown rice, whole-grain cereals, etc. are sensible selections for whole grains.
5. Citrus Fruits
Citric acid is found in citrus fruits, that stimulate the saliva, deactivating and killing the bacteria accountable for inflicting bad breath within the mouth.
6. Parsley
Parsley contains gentle antiseptic- ‘chlorophyll’ that works against the microorganisms that cause bad breath within the mouth. Besides, swallowing parsley leaves additionally aids in treating the upset stomach and other gastric issues.
7. Avocados
Consuming avocados primarily kill the microorganisms present in your abdomen and therefore, correcting the gastric decomposition and curing bad breath conjointly.
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8. Cardamom
The aromatic flavor of cardamom seeds can be used as mouth freshener to cure bad breath and its symptoms. It’s easily accessible at home and is one amongst the foremost effectual ways that to get rid of the problem in no time.
9. Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)
A cup of tea prepared from the fenugreek seeds is an effective approach to cure bad breath.
10. Cloves
Cloves freshen your breath and even have antibacterial properties that are very useful in treating bad breath.The easiest way is to chew some pieces of cloves and this will reduce bad breath in a couple of minutes.
11. Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds and oil are extraordinarily good for your teeth as they remove bacterial plaque serving to boost oral health. It eliminates streptococcus bacteria from both teeth plaque and mouth saliva. These seeds are rich in calcium and are found to cut back plaque and additionally help in remineralizing teeth enamel.
12. Baking Soda
Baking soda is useful in changing the acidic levels of your mouth, and by doing so; it creates unfavorable conditions for the bacteria to breed inside your mouth. Or you can merely prefer a toothbrush that contains baking soda as one of the compositions.
13) Say Cheese
What makes cheese a super-food for teeth is its ability to confront acid erosion of the teeth.
Cheese protects your pearly whites from acid erosion—the breakdown of enamel brought on by coffee, tea, wine, soda, and so on.
Cheese contains natural cavity-fighting agents and vitamins to strengthen teeth and enamel. The calcium and phosphate, that helps balance pH within the mouth, preserves (and rebuilds) enamel, produces saliva and kills microorganism that causes cavities and malady.
- Cheese is high in casein phosphate, a chemical that lowers the acidity in your mouth thereby making it resistant to decay.
- Cheese stimulates saliva, that cleanses the teeth and keeps the acidity low. It also forms a protective film on the teeth keeping them safe from acid.
- The best way to extend the protective advantages of cheese is to eat it throughout a meal and finish the meal with a farewell bite!
- Stay away from extremely processed cheese and stick with real cheese.
See Your Doctor
If your bad breath continues despite your best efforts, make an appointment with your doctor. He’ll check to examine if your problems are associated with a medical condition. Cure bad breath with these home remedies and smell fresh all day long.