Chronic bad breath, scientifically known as halitosis is common and can really impact the quality of your life. Besides being a little socially awkward, halitosis can be an indication of ill health or poor oral hygiene. Flossing helps maintain your oral hygiene and helps you keep fresher breath by aiding in the removal of food and the nasty bacteria that creates bad breath.
If we are not producing enough saliva, we increase the risk of plaque accumulation, thus increasing our bad breath. There are many reasons you body could have a low saliva production:
Alcohol Consumption – not only do they create bad breath, alcoholic beverages can dehydrate your body and dry your mouth out even further.- Sleep – It’s apparent that we have worse breath in the morning. Why is this so ? While we sleep, our bodies stop producing saliva.
This causes the bacteria in your mouth to multiply and results in your very nasty breath in the morning.
- Food + Drink – when we are needing to top ourselves up on food or drink, our breath will start to smell a little off. If we are dehydrated, our oral saliva production reduces, thus worsening the smell of our breath.
Keep up those recommended 8 glasses of water a day and you should be pretty good.
When we tend to diet and not eat as much we should keep a minty floss handy. This will help eliminate bacteria, keep your breath fresh and preoccupy your cravings.
There are a number of issues that can cause us to suffer from chronically bad breath. It is recommended you consult your Dr or Oral Hygiene professional. Some of the things to look out for are, but are not limited to :
- Throat infections or long term illnesses
- Infected teeth, cavities or gingivitis
- Cancer of the throat or oral cavity
- Tonsillitis or chronic tonsil issues
It can also be an indication of diseases that aren’t related to our oral health. For instance, if a Diabetic is suffering from a high glucose level they get a ‘fruity’ smelling breath. Other illness such as disease of the liver or digestive system diseases can cause bad breath. We have always been told that once we make something a habit we can stick to it. It has been proven that those with poorer oral hygiene, little to no flossing and irregular brushing of the teeth suffer from halitosis.
If you work out a routine that suits you and you can stick to it – that’s great ! Just remember, regular flossing, brush your teeth, mouth wash and keeping the saliva production going. Stick to this and you can be on your way to a fresher smelling you !
