What Causes Bad Breath?
What Causes Halitosis and How to Prevent It?
Bad breath is not only caused by consuming foods that leave an odor in the mouth. You may also suffer from bad breath if you do not take regular dental care or because of other problems in the mouth.
Halitosis is usuallycaused by neglecting personal oral care and poor oral hygiene. You may be taking regular oral care and avoiding foods that cause bad odor, such as onions and garlic. However, if you still feel a deep-rooted odor in your mouth, there may be other underlying causes. You should visit your dentist before it is too late.
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What is Halitosis?
The definition of halitosis is an unpleasant odor coming from the throat and inside the mouth. What is halitosis? Halitosis is a bad breath that bothers both the person and the people around them during conversation, close contact and breathing. This odor is especially common in people who neglect brushing their teeth and do not take proper oral care. However, sometimes you may also experience bad breath due to some stomach and tonsil disorders. Oral hygiene and bad breath usually have an opposite profile. In other words, if you brush your teeth every day, it is usually not expected that you will have a bad odor problem.
Causes of Bad Breath
The relationship between halitosis and health is something you should not ignore. Because contrary to popular belief, sometimes very serious diseases can also cause bad breath. The causes of halitosis are as follows:
- Neglecting to brush your teeth,
- Not cleaning between the tongue and teeth sufficiently,
- Consuming foods such as onions, garlic, salami, sausage, cabbage, milk,
- Stomach disorders such as reflux and gastritis,
- Infections in the mouth,
- Palate problems
- Problems with the salivary gland,
- Dental problems
- Liver failure,
- Diabetes
- Kidney failure,
- Throat disorders such as adenoids,
- Staying hungry for a long time,
- Sinusitis
- Pharyngitis
Discomfort in the throat is also one of the reasons that may come to mind for bad breath symptoms. Pain, bad odor or discomfort in one part of your body may be related to another organ. If you have bad breath that does not go away, you should make sure that you have eliminated all of the above conditions.
Oral Hygiene and Bad Breath
Oral hygiene not only causes bad breath but can also be a harbinger of various health problems. Teeth that are not brushed start to decay due to bacteria in the mouth. Bacteria formation causes bad odor in the mouth.
The relationship between bad breath and health problems is another issue that should not be neglected from the moment the symptoms begin. Bad breath is a signal that both reduces your self-confidence and signals that there is a problem with your oral health.
If you are a person who pays attention to what you eat and drink and your oral hygiene when you go out in public, you are not expected to have halitosis problems. If you cannot get rid of the bad odor in your mouth no matter what you do, you may have neglected your dental check-ups.
Health Problems Associated with Bad Breath
Halitosis prevention methods may be one of the first things you investigate when you start having problems. To prevent a condition, you first need to know the cause. To find out the cause of the problem you are experiencing, you should make sure that your general health condition is good along with the halitosis diagnosis. Halitosis is a condition caused by bacteria in the mouth. If your teeth, tongue and palate are clean enough, bacteria cannot survive in this area.
If you have diseases that weaken your body, if you have stomach-related problems, then you may experience bad breath. Bacteria and harmful microorganisms can accumulate in your body due to health problems in your kidneys. This can be another cause of bad breath.
Halitosis prevention methods can be achieved by diagnosing and treating the diseases you have, if any. The first and primary cause of bad breath is neglected oral care. For this, you can go to the dentist every 6 months and have your teeth cleaned.
How to Prevent Bad Breath?
The most effective way to prevent halitosis is to brush your teeth twice a day, morning and evening. In general, you should not neglect flossing and cleaning your tongue. Because the inside of the mouth does not only consist of teeth. The palate, inside the cheek, teeth and tongue together affect oral health.
If oral care is not neglected, you may want to consider a general health check-up. If you have a stomach disorder, you can minimize potential problems by living in accordance with the diet recommended by your doctor.
If you have chronic diseases such as sinusitis and pharyngitis, you should protect your body from cold weather and wind. In this way, you can prevent bad breath that may occur due to nasal discharge. You can support healthy saliva secretion by consuming plenty of water.
You should avoid acidic and sticky foods that damage the teeth. If you have eaten something sweet and sticky to your teeth, you may not be able to brush your teeth immediately. But you can rinse your mouth and remove the sticky residues left on the teeth.
You can prevent the formation of bacteria by maintaining oral hygiene with some simple measures. You should take regular oral care with the right toothbrush and toothpaste. You may notice that your teeth are cleaned more evenly with the use of dental floss. By choosing a toothbrush suitable for tongue cleaning, you can complete your oral hygiene fully equipped.
Tongue Cleaning and Bad Breath
Tongue cleaning and bad breath are often neglected. If you only clean the surface of the teeth and leave it, the residues on the tongue lead to bacterial growth.
You can see that the residues left on the tongue cause bad odor after a while. However, with the help of serrated toothbrushes, you can easily brush the sides and top of the tongue. This process may be difficult at first because you are not used to it.
If you continue brushing your tongue along with your teeth for a few days, you may start cleaning your tongue automatically without realizing it. Thus, you can enjoy fresher breathing by being more conscious about oral hygiene.
When you overcome bad breath with this method, you will not be afraid to breathe in and out in public. You can express yourself more comfortably and confidently while speaking.
Halitosis Symptoms and Diagnosis
After the relationship between halitosis and tongue care, you may wonder how to diagnose bad breath. In fact, you can recognize the problem you are experiencing without the need for extra vision. Symptoms of halitosis are usually:
- Bad breath that does not go away even if you brush your teeth,
- A foul odor that you occasionally notice when you breathe,
- Reactions from your environment,
- It manifests itself in the form of a foul odor that also occurs outside the consumption of onions, garlic, cabbage and milk.
You may prefer to consult a specialist for diagnosis. When you describe the problems you are experiencing, your doctor will provide you with the necessary guidance on ideal oral care. If there are wounds, inflammations or tooth decay in the mouth, you can have them treated immediately.
Sometimes bad breath can also give you information about disorders in the mouth. After these conditions are treated, you can continue your daily life without bad breath.
If you suspect that you have bad breath from time to time, you may also want to consider changing your toothpaste and toothbrush. You can have fresher breath with toothpastes that will not harm your health, help to eliminate bad breath and are highly cleansing. You can complete your oral care more accurately by getting advice from your specialist dentist.
By making an appointment for a dental examination, you can have the dental treatment you need as soon as possible.
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