How to Fight Bad Breath

Halitosis commonly known as bad breath is a very embarrassing disease. Most people with bad breath are not aware of their problem but the people around them certainly know and just embarrass to tell them. The reaction of people around you when you speak or open your mouth will somehow give you a hint if you have a bad breath problem. However, there are tests for bad breath that you can do, one test is lick the back of your wrist and let it dry for a minute or two and then smell it. Another way is to scrape the back of your tongue with an inverted spoon and smell the thick whitish dried residue. How it smells is most likely the way your breath smells to others. If you have a bad breath it is important to know how to fight bad breath.

To know how to fight bad breath, first you have to know the causes of bad breath. Bad breath is caused by accumulation of bacteria in the mouth. There are more than 600 types of bacteria present in the mouth which has the tendency to overpopulate due to food debris and other factors like gum problems and tooth decay. Accumulation of anaerobic bacteria on the posterior of the tongue, gums and teeth when mixed with mouth air and exhaled create foul odor or bad breath. There are two types of bad breath namely transient and chronic bad breath. Transient bad breath is caused by poor mouth hygiene, oral dryness or by eating certain foods like onion and garlic. Transient bad breath usually disappears on its own or by improved oral hygiene. Chronic bad breath is more serious and caused by continuous accumulation of bacteria and needs specialized treatment. It is important to know how to fight bad breath even before it becomes chronic bad breath.