Bad breath, or halitosis, is a common oral health condition that affects several people worldwide. Aside from making you feel embarrassed when talking with a friend or a colleague, bad breath could be a sign of oral health problems like gum disease.

While most experience bad breath once when they eat smelly foods like onions or fish, your mouth will freshen up once you brush and floss your teeth. If you or a loved one has persistent bad breath that does not go away even after brushing and flossing his/her teeth daily, speaking with a credible and experienced dentist could help.

Understanding the cause of your condition is key to effective treatment and long-term relief. Fortunately, bad breath is preventable and treatable once your dentist identifies the root cause of the issue.

Common Causes of Bad Breath

Several factors could cause your bad breath issue. A thorough diagnosis and examination of your oral and general health history can help your dentist determine the cause of your issue. Below is a brief overview of some of the prevalent causes of bad breath among most people:

Poor Oral and Dental Hygiene

Unfortunately, most dental and oral health issues come from the inside of your mouth. That occurs when you fail to brush and floss your teeth daily, allowing food particles and bacteria to build up on the surface of your tooth. When the bacteria break down these foods, 

When you fail to brush away this bacteria buildup at least twice daily, it could cause a foul smell in your breath due to the sulfur compounds produced in the process. Most people with bad breath often fix the issue using mint and gum, but this is only a temporary remedy for a persistent problem.

If poor oral and dental hygiene practices are the causes of your issue, flossing and brushing your teeth at least twice daily and regular dental appointments with your dentist for deep cleaning could help. Using antibacterial mouthwash could also help keep the harmful bacteria at bay.

Cavities

Another common cause of bad breath among most people is cavities. Aside from affecting the aesthetic appearance of your smile, cavities could be the culprit of your bad breath issue. While it is not a direct cause, the cavities on the surface of your tooth could allow the bacteria to accumulate inside.

When that happens, you will likely experience bad breath when the bacteria feed on the food particles accumulated in the cavities. Unfortunately, even the routine brushing of your teeth cannot remove the bacteria because the toothbrush bristles do not clean inside the cavities. The best way to fix bad breath issues caused by a cavity is to consult a dentist for routine dental exams and cleaning.

Dental Abscess (Infection)

A dental abscess occurs when cavities are left untreated for a prolonged period, leading to a build-up of more bacteria, which release acidic secretions that eat away the inside of the tooth. When the bacteria reach your tooth's nervous and pulp sections, you will experience sharp pain and sensitivity when drinking or eating hot, sour, or cold foods and beverages.

In addition to these bothersome symptoms, you will experience persistent bad breath due to the dental abscess. A procedure known as root canal therapy could help treat dental abscesses. During this procedure, your dentist or periodontist will remove the infected pulp and use composite resin to seal the canal and prevent the accumulation of more bacteria.

Gum Disease

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, bad breath could also be a sign of gum disease, especially advanced periodontitis. Gum disease is a progressive infection of your gums caused by harmful bacteria that stick on the surface of your tooth and below your gum line.

When left unchecked, the bacteria causes your gums to pull away (gum recession) from your teeth, creating spaces known as periodontal pockets. That means more bacteria will have an excellent environment to thrive and multiply, eventually leading to advanced periodontitis.

Advanced periodontitis is the final and most severe stage of gum disease, characterized by severe gum recession, bone loss, loose teeth, and bad breath. If you have gum disease, the treatment your dentist will recommend will depend on its severity. Common treatments include scaling and root planing, antibiotic medication, or gum surgery.

Dry Mouth

As the name suggests, dry mouth is a condition that causes your mouth to become dry, and one of the causes is dehydration, meaning you do not drink adequate water. Most people do not know that failing to drink water could affect their breath and are often surprised when a dentist recommends drinking more water as a remedy for their persistent bad breath issue.

Food particles will linger without adequate saliva in your mouth, providing the harmful bacteria with a feast. In addition to helping wash away food particles that linger in your mouth after eating, saliva contains helpful enzymes that break down these food particles and lessen odor-causing bacteria.

Smoking

In addition to staining your teeth and putting you at risk of oral health issues, like cavities, oral cancer, and gum disease, smoking or chewing tobacco products like cigars and cigarettes could also contribute to persistent bad breath.

Corrective Devices

If you are undergoing orthodontic treatment due to misaligned teeth, you should beware that the braces, dentures, and retainers recommended by your dentist could also cause bad breath. That could occur when these devices trap food debris on unclean teeth, leading to bad breath because removing these particles during routine dental care practices, like brushing and flossing, is challenging.

Other common causes of halitosis or bad breath among most people include:

  • Acid reflux
  • Tonsil stones
  • Digestive issues
  • Diabetes
  • Prior medical problems, like gastrointestinal infections (GERD) or respiratory tract infections
  • Certain medications
  • Chronic sinusitis
  • Chronic bronchitis
  • Infection of your lungs, windpipe, or nose

If the cause of your bad breath is not related to your dental or oral health, your dentist could recommend you seek the services of a doctor for a diagnosis.

Recommendable Treatments for Bad Breath

The exact treatment your dentist will recommend for your bad breath issue will depend on the cause of your problem. Here are recommendable, tried-and-tested treatments that can aid you in combating your bad breath issue:

Drink Adequate Water Daily

Staying hydrated is one of the most overlooked yet effective and straightforward solutions for bad breath. Drinking adequate water daily helps flush out bacteria and food particles lingering in your mouth after eating, reducing the risk of plaque buildup on the surface of your teeth and below the gumline.

Staying hydrated is important whether you stick to the “eight (8) glasses daily” guideline or an alternative recommendation ideal for your body weight.

Prioritize Oral and Dental Care Habits

Improving your routine oral and dental care habits could be all it takes to keep the issue of bad breath at bay. Brushing your teeth at least twice daily using fluoridated toothpaste could help keep your teeth clean and strong, reducing the chances of developing cavities, gum disease, or dental abscesses, common culprits of bad breath.

Proper flossing using a floss threader could also help remove food particles stuck between your teeth, helping combat lousy breath issues. Another crucial oral care practice you should not forget about is tongue brushing. Brushing and flossing your teeth are pivotal oral care practices, but they will not eliminate food particles that stick and linger on your tongue after eating.

Incorporating tongue scraping into your daily oral care routine can eliminate these food particles, promoting a healthy mouth and a fresher breath.

Integrate Probiotic-Rich Foods into Your Diet

An imbalance in your intestinal flora could sometimes cause bad breath. Fortunately, fixing this balance by eating probiotic-rich foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and yogurt can help fix this embarrassing oral health issue. Additionally, these foods can help enhance your digestive enzymes, combating the problem of bad breath if it is due to digestive issues.

Prioritize Frequent Oral Rinsing

Rinsing your mouth regularly, particularly after meals, can help lessen the accumulation of bacteria and food particles along your gum line. However, a simple glass of water with a pinch of salt could effectively treat your issue, mainly if brushing your teeth is not immediately feasible.

Furthermore, regular oral rinsing helps stimulate saliva production, a natural antibiotic that helps keep bacteria at bay.

Maintain Optimal Gum Health

Staying on top of your oral and dental health is the key to preventing gum disease, mainly caused by plaque buildup on the surface of your tooth and below your gum line. If your bad breath issue is due to gum disease, your dentist could offer the necessary treatment or refer you to a periodontist for a more specialized treatment.

For non-severe cases of gum disease, your periodontist can help you remove plaque and tartar buildup on your tooth surface and below the gumline using a procedure known as scaling and root planing. However, for severe cases or advanced periodontitis, gum surgery could be necessary to reattach your gums to the teeth and keep odor-producing bacteria at bay.

Improve Your Diet

If your bad breath is due to the consumption of certain aromatic foods, like garlic and onions, cutting back or avoiding these foods will be the only remedy for your problem. Cutting back on starchy and sugary foods, which bacteria feast on to produce the foul smell and acidic secretions that cause cavities, could also help combat the persistent bad breath issue.

Incorporating crunchy foods like apples and peas into your diet could also help scrape off food and plaque build up on the surface of your teeth, combating the issue of bad breath.

Chew Sugar-free Gums

In addition to freshening your breath, chewing sugar-free gums can also help stimulate saliva production, which neutralizes the acidity in your mouth and washes away harmful bacteria and food lingering in it. Ensure your chewing gum is sugar-free to avoid exposing your healthy teeth to sugars that feed the harmful bacteria in your mouth.

Avoid Tobacco, Caffeine, and Alcohol

Combating bad breath is enough reason to quit your tobacco smoking habit. In addition to combating bad breath, quitting tobacco use can help mitigate other oral and dental health concerns that cause bad breath, such as:

  • Gum disease
  • Decay and Cavities
  • Inflamed salivary glands

Drinking too much caffeine and alcohol can also dry your mouth, increasing the risk of bacteria accumulation and bad breath. Hence, avoiding these drinks is an excellent remedy for persistent bad breath issues.

Clean Your Dentures and Orthodontic Devices Often

If you have any dental corrective devices, like retainers and dentures, you should clean them thoroughly as directed by your orthodontist to keep odor-producing bacteria at bay. If you have a mouthguard or retainer, cleaning them before you fix them in your mouth is advisable. Your dentist will recommend appropriate cleaning products for your issue.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly

Regular dental appointments with your dentist for routine cleaning and check-ups could also help combat bad breath issues. During regular dental appointments, your dentist will thoroughly clean your teeth to remove stubborn plaque you cannot remove with your toothbrush at home.

During routine dental visits, your dentist can also examine your orthodontic devices and remove any food debris between them and your teeth. For the best dental and oral health services, you should ensure the dentist you choose for your and your family’s routine dental check-ups is skilled, experienced, reputable, and licensed.

Find a Seasoned Dentist Near Me

If you have persistent bad breath, it could be detrimental to your confidence and self-esteem, making you feel embarrassed to speak with your friends or colleagues. Fortunately, it is a controllable and manageable oral health condition.

While it is not a bothersome condition, bad breath is an issue that requires a dentist's attention because sometimes it could be a symptom of an underlying oral health issue like gum disease. We invite you to our credible dentists at Northridge Advanced Dentistry at 818-701-3010 if you or a loved one needs treatment for a bad breath issue. We have whatever it takes to help you achieve optimal oral health and enduring mouth freshness.