Dealing with bad breath

Dr Brigid Monda

Did you know that a human bite is dirtier and more dangerous than a dog bite? This is because there are over 600 types of bacteria that live in our mouths — usually below the whitish tongue coating that covers the lower end of the tongue and where food debris, dead cells, postnasal drips and other living and dead bacteria thrive. The bacteria, which are responsible for the bad breath, thrive in a dry, dark environment such as under the gums, the spaces between the teeth, and the crevices of the tongue. These areas are poorly cleansed and hence allow bacteria to flourish, breaking down this coating and releasing unpleasant smelling volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) and other gases, which manifest as unpleasant breath. The medical term for bad breath is Halitosis.

Everybody gets bad breath or halitosis on a regular basis, no matter how good your oral hygiene. Also, it is not always your fault if you have bad breath because it may not be due to poor dental hygiene. In fact, most people with halitosis are so concerned about it that they tend to have far better oral hygiene practices than the average person.

Causes of bad breath

They include foods that trigger a growth of these bacteria like coffee, because it contains acids that decrease oxygenation of the mouth; sugary foods and dairy products like milk, which are high in proteins and require to be broken down by these bacteria thereby releasing the odour causing VSCs; spicy foods cooked with garlic and onions which contain sulphur by-products that are absorbed into the blood stream, and are expelled by the lungs, also cause bad breathe. Foods like anchovies, blue cheese, pepperoni, salami and tuna leave oils in your mouth that may release odour for up to 24 hours no matter how much you brush.

Alcohol-containing mouth rinses and certain medications for high blood pressure, antidepressants, anti allergy drugs and cold medication, just to mention a few, cause "Dry Mouth Syndrome" which decreases saliva production, leaving the mouth without a lubricant to cleanse itself and to remove food particles. Alcohol on the other hand is also exhaled in your breath by your lungs and can cause bad breath.

Besides washing away food debris and bacteria, saliva also has a natural antibacterial action. This explains "Morning breath" and is worse in those who sleep with their mouths open because most of the saliva evaporates before it has a chance to wash food and bacteria away and also in those who speak a lot or breathe through their mouths because of nasal polyps, sinus infection or hay fever.

Smoking causes bad breath, stains teeth, dulls your taste buds and irritates the gums.

Gum disease, most certainly, can cause bad breath, because food trapped in gum pockets is also broken down by these bacteria releasing VSCs and increases tartar build-up on the teeth, trapping even more bacteria. The same goes for unclean dentures.

Distinctive odours

Crash dieting causes the body to break down stored fat and protein for fuel, producing metabolic wastes, which are expelled from the lungs giving off an unpleasant odour.

Distinctive odours are often associated with certain medical conditions, including infections of the respiratory system like chronic bronchitis and sinusitis, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, liver or kidney disorders, cancer of mouth, throat or respiratory tract. Many of these illnesses have their own distinct odour so if you constantly use a breath freshener to hide unpleasant mouth odour, see your dentist.

It is not easy to tell how one’s breath smells because the nose tends to filter out and ignore background odours like those from the mouth and that is why it cannot reliably help us judge the quality of our own breath. This means that a person may have bad breath, yet not be aware of it. Ask the opinion of a spouse or significant other or ask a child because as we all know, the most honest people are children. You could also lick your wrist then leave the saliva to dry and smell the area for any unpleasant odours or lightly scrape the very back portion of your tongue with a spoon and take a whiff of the material that has been scrapped off. If it is pretty nasty, this is the way your breath smells to others.