Bad Breath

Morning breath

Almost everyone has bad breath first thing in the morning. During the day, movement of the tongue and cheeks dislodges food debris and dead cells, and these are washed away by saliva. While we are asleep our tongue and cheeks do not move much, and the flow of saliva is reduced. The food residues stagnate in the mouth, and mouth bacteria rapidly break them down, releasing an unpleasant stale smell. Breathing through the mouth when sleeping tends to make this worse. Fortunately, morning breath normally disappears after breakfast, cleaning the teeth or rinsing the mouth with water. Get your saliva going with a drink of water and lemon.

Temporary bad breath

Temporary bad breath is the lingering effect of cigarettes or something you have eaten or drunk in the past 24-48 hours. Alcohol, onions, cabbage, broccoli, radish, durian, garlic, curries and other highly spiced foods, cured foods such as salamis, and smoked foods such as kippers are particularly likely to remain on the breath. The problem isn’t simply that the smells stay in the mouth. These foods are digested and then broken down in the body, and the breakdown products of some, particularly alcohol, onions and garlic, are expelled in the breath for hours or days afterwards (this is the basis of the ‘breathalyser test’ for alcohol).

Smoking also reduces the flow of saliva, which makes its smell linger even longer.

Traditional remedies such as eating parsley help, and mouth fresheners disguise the smell. Clean your mouth by rinsing it thoroughly with warm water, giving it a good brushing with toothpaste and then rinsing thoroughly again.

Bad breath can even result from not eating. When no food is available, the body starts breaking down fat. Waste products from fat breakdown, called ketones, are expelled in the breath, and smell like stale apples.