The moment you realise you are suffering from bad breath (halitosis) is the moment absolutely everything in your life suddenly seems to become complicated. From family life to social situations to professional relationships and so on, it’s a small problem that really can create enormous problems.
On the plus side, sufficient research into halitosis has been carried out over the years to bring to light a wide variety of effective tips, tricks and approaches for both getting rid of and preventing it. It’s no longer simply a case of having to sit around and suffer in silence – there are so many avenues to explore, of which many are incredibly simple and enormously effective.
So for those looking to take full control of their oral hygiene and freshness, here’s a quick overview of eight essential tips to try:
1 – A Better Toothbrush
First and foremost, it is absolutely imperative that you consider upgrading your toothbrush, if you haven’t done so in some time. The reason being that the primary cause of bad breath is of course an unclean mouth – in turn meaning that the better the clean you give your mouth, the lower the likelihood of bad breath. It’s therefore a good idea to check out the best electric toothbrush reviews you can come across, in order to find the kind of device that can give your mouth the same kind of clean you’d expect from a dentist. In many instances, this can make all the difference in the world.
2 – Floss More Often
It’s quite spectacular (not to mention rather disgusting) as to just how much of the dirt, grime and bacteria in your mouth hides between your teeth. It’s been known for some time that brushing alone simply isn’t enough to get rid of everything that could be rotting away in your mouth and causing bad breath. Which is precisely why it is of the utmost importance to get into the habit of flossing on a more regular basis. Flossing has been proven to get rid of so much of the nasty stuff that would otherwise be left hanging around indefinitely – it’s not exactly a difficult job to carry out either!
3 – Rinse Regularly
The same also goes for rinsing as in many respects there is technically no such thing as rinsing your mouth with a quality mouthwash too often. Mouthwash gets to the hidden corners and places within the mouth that absolutely no brush in the world could get to – areas where bacteria and debris will collect and rot. A good quality mouthwash will help ensure that each and every bit of your entire mouth is given the best possible clean, which in turn will minimise the likelihood of bad breath.
4 – Scrape Your Tongue
Chances are you would probably be quite disgusted if you ever got the opportunity to take a close look at the bacteria and general nastiness that is hiding in the coating of your tongue. In fact, in an enormous proportion of cases it is the tongue itself (usually the back of the tongue) that is the primary cause of bad breath. Dental professionals have been advising patients for many years now to ensure that along with giving their teeth and the rest of their mouth a comprehensive clean, it is also important to give the tongue a good scraping. Even the very cheapest manual toothbrushes often feature a specially adapted surface for exactly this purpose – the best electric toothbrush you can come across however will do a much better job.
5 – Avoid Certain Foods
Have you ever wondered why it appears almost impossible to get rid of the smell of certain foods like onions and garlic, even if you brush your teeth immediately after eating them? The answer is quite simple, if entirely unhelpful – the substances that are actually in these kinds of foods that cause bad smells find their way into your bloodstream almost immediately after eating them. Which in turn means that no matter how much you scrub, scrape, polish and rinse, it really isn’t going to make a great deal of difference. As such, the best advice is that if you are aware of any foods that are likely to make your breath smell bad, you might want to stay away from them entirely.
6 – Hydrate
Dehydration or having a dry mouth in general can be one of the most common causes of bad breath. The simple fact of the matter is that the longer your mouth goes dry, the longer all that debris and bacteria in there has to go rotten. Not only this, but lack of hydration will also make it much more difficult for the debris in your mouth to be properly washed away, meaning there will be more of the stuff lying around to go bad. Dehydration in many instances turns out to be the primary cause of so many cases of bad breath, so you might want to make sure you’re getting enough to drink.
7 – Raw Fruits and Vegetables
Another highly effective approach to combating and preventing bad breath is to increase your intake of raw fruits and vegetables. Crispy and crunchy fruits and vegetables like celery and carrot sticks not only give your teeth and your mouth a naturally effective clean while you are eating them, but also stimulate the production of more saliva. This in turn helps break down and remove the kinds of nasties that would otherwise be left lying around to cause bad smells.
8 – Visit Your Dentist
Last but not least, anyone that has been struggling with a problem with bad breath for some time really should speak to a dental professional about it. The reason being that along with offering a wide variety of helpful tips, tricks and product recommendations to combat the problem, they may also be able to isolate its root cause. It’s worth remembering that the problem might be one that you have absolutely no control over, but can at the same time be corrected or treated quite effectively with a little professional assistance.
