What Your Chronic Bad Breath May Be Trying to Tell You

Ever been in a situation where someone hands you a mint or a piece of gum and says, “Here, I think you need this”? 

It’s not a fun position because what that person is telling you in so many words is this: Your breath stinks. While everyone can have bad breath occasionally, if this scenario happens to you repeatedly, it’s time to figure out the cause. It may just be that you need to brush your teeth more often, or there may be an underlying reason.

Here at Reality Bites Dental, our team frequently helps patients deal with their bad breath. Our recommendations to help resolve the issue include:

Brush and floss more

One of the main root causes of bad breath involves poor bruising and flossing techniques (or simply not flossing at all). If you don’t brush and floss frequently enough or well enough, food particles will remain in your mouth and on your teeth.

In addition to the odor these particles can cause as they decay, they also attract bacteria that break down the particles, which produce a sulfurous compound that smells … not good.

Brush at least twice a day, and floss at least once a day — and do it well — to improve your breath.

Change your diet

A couple of things apply here. If your diet is high in sugar, it can lead to plaque building up on your teeth, which will attract more bacteria, which will break the sugar down, leading to bad breath. And, if your diet is too low in carbs or high in protein, it can lead to bad breath as well.

Eating spicy foods can also provoke odor-causing food particles to enter your bloodstream, which then leads to those odors being breathed out. 

Deal with your dry mouth

Saliva serves an important function in your mouth — it helps remove the particles that lead to bad breath. If your production of saliva slows down or even stops, it can cause a condition called dry mouth (xerostomia), which can give you bad breath. If you find this happening to you, talk to us on your next dental visit, or try these remedies. 

Look for underlying health concerns

In some situations, your bad breath may be caused by a more serious, underlying health concern. This isn’t normally the case, but it can happen, so if the above solutions don’t help, mention this to us at your next visit, and talk to your primary care physician, as well. 

Health concerns that can potentially cause bad breath include heart disease, diabetes, sinus issues, kidney or liver disease, bronchitis or pneumonia, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

If you’re struggling with chronic bad breath, our expert team at Reality Bites Dental wants to help you turn things around. To get started, call our San Antonio office at 210-399-5951 or use our online scheduler to book your appointment anytime, day or night!