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What Your Chronic Bad Breath Is Trying to Tell You
When we want to impress others, we make an effort to look our best by getting into our best clothes, getting our hair to look just right, and using sprays or deodorant to smell fresh. Something that can easily get overlooked is bad breath, which can affect how you interact with other people more than you might think.
Also called halitosis, bad breath can affect how much people want to be around you and impact working and personal relationships, as well as other social situations. Chronic halitosis can also indicate other problems, so let’s further explore this condition, the illnesses that can cause it, and how to avoid or manage it.
Dr. Elena Davidson and the Davidson Dental Group team help the residents of San Leandro, Castro Valley, Oakland, California, and the surrounding areas with many dental issues, including problems that cause halitosis.
Halitosis basics
Some form of bad breath affects people worldwide; 25% experience it at some point in their lives. Not having fresh breath is nothing new, and the idea of finding ways to make things smell better goes back at least some 3,000 years, as far as the ancient Egyptians, who made an early form of breath mint from boiled herbs and spices blended with honey.
Some form of trying to cover bad breath has been around ever since. However, while things like lozenges, mouthwash, and other temporary methods can help with short-term issues, chronic halitosis can’t be treated this way. To manage this, you have to determine the cause.
Possible underlying conditions
How long you struggle with bad breath depends on why you have it. Short-term issues can be caused by what you eat or drink, which can also affect the associated scent, or issues like nose and throat infections. Long-term halitosis issues can come from problems like:
- Smoking: This dangerous habit changes your oral bacteria, leading to dry mouth and several oral diseases.
- Gum disease: Bad oral hygiene often causes your gums to become infected, damaging teeth and causing tooth decay and other issues.
- Diabetes: This illness raises your chances of gum disease.
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): This occurs when stomach acid moves back up your esophagus and sometimes into your mouth, affecting your breath’s smell.
- Head and neck cancers: Mouth, throat, and laryngeal cancers can cause bad breath.
- Kidney or liver disease: These can affect how toxins are filtered, and bad breath can be a symptom of both.
Prevention and management
Basic steps to improve your breath’s odor include improving oral hygiene (more regular brushing, flossing, and rinsing), scraping your tongue, reducing foods and drinks that cause bad breath, chewing gum, and keeping your mouth moist. Avoid smoking and tobacco products altogether, use antiseptic mouthwash to reduce bad bacteria, and visit your dentist regularly.
If you use dental appliances, be sure to keep them clean.
We have ways to treat bad breath and its causes. We can help with scaling and root planing, laser therapy, antibiotics, and periodontal surgery.
Halitosis can be a minor inconvenience or indicate a long-term problem that needs treating, so if your breath is less than fresh and you’d like some help in fixing the issue, make an appointment with Dr. Davidson and Davidson Dental Group today. Call or message our office in San Leandro, California.