Occassional, Situational, and Chronic Bad Breath

What is the difference between occasional, situational or chronic bad breath and what steps can you take to prevent it?

Let’s look at the three types of bad breath. Situational bad breath occurs mainly after the immediate consumption of certain food products such as garlic and onions. Cigarettes and alcohol also cause situational bad breath.

Infrequent morning breath is an example of occasional bad breath. People may wake up with bad breath in the morning and after brushing their teeth, they will typically be fine for a few hours. However the bad smell may come back during the day.

Chronic bad breath is experienced by 27% of all people. The definition of chronic halitosis is “a persistent, foul, fetid odor emitted from the mouth and/or nose. Some people with chronic halitosis may be at a loss about what to do about it. Despite what some people may think, people with chronic halitosis have excellent oral hygiene most of the time. They brush and floss often but it doesn’t cure their halitosis.

Now that we have differentiated between the types of bad breath, let’s talk about how to diagnose you own bad breath, whatever the type.

It is often said that you can’t smell your own breath. That is not true. Some people can smell and sometimes even taste their own bad breath. The sad fact is that whatever you smell and/or taste in your own mouth smells a lot stronger to those around you. We assimilate or get used to our own body smells so our own odors are not as offensive to us as they might be to others.

With the exception of chronic halitosis we are normally the last to know we have a problem. Bad breath is not a comfortable topic for most people. Unless there is someone in your life that you trust and who is honest with you and will tell you the truth, you won’t realize your breath is offensive.

What are some of the signs of a breath problem? There are six symptoms you can watch out for.

White globes called tonsillitis being coughed up from the back of the throat
A thick white coating on the back of the tongue
Constant dry mouth
Smelling bad breath through your sinuses
Excess mucous and/or post nasal drip.
A metallic, tinny taste.

Remember, experiencing one or even two of these symptoms does not mean for sure that your breath is bad.

So what prevents the various types of bad breath? Well, let’s first discus what does NOT help bad breath. Some commercial products in truth actually make bad breath worse. If you look at the ingredient of any major brand of toothpaste, you’ll see an ingredient called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in many tubes. SLS is a soap that is place in toothpaste to make foam. People are conditioned to believe that the more bubbles something makes when cleaning, the cleaner an object will be. This is not true. SLS dries out your mouth and creates an environment where bacteria can grow and this produce bad breath. This substance is also linked to painful and annoying canker sores. Though it is not necessarily bad to use a toothpaste containing SLS, these products will not help eliminate chronic bad breath.

Similarly, if you look at the label of your favorite mouthwash, you will most likely find that it contains alcohol. Again, it is okay for a mouthwash to contain alcohol, if children are not using it, but alcohol dries out the mouth and contributes to a lack of salvia in the mouth and this produces bad breath.

So what actually works in eliminating bad breath? If you are suffering from occasional bad breath, you should stimulate saliva production. Drink a lot of water. Drinking a lot of water should be enough to make your breath fresh. In the case of situational bad breath, you should gently scrape your tongue and apply oxygen rich toothpaste onto your tongue. Make sure the toothpaste does not contain SLS. Rinse two times a day with a mouthwash without alcohol.

For chronic bad breath, consult a dentist or doctor. Discuss eating habits, medical history, special circumstances and any other pertinent information. A physician may test for a concentration of sulfides using something called a halimeter. The doctor will assess potential problem areas.

There are many ways to remedy bad breath. It is important to increase your knowledge on the causes of any type of bad breath and then take the appropriate steps to solve the problem.