What Causes Bad Breath?

Don't you hate it when you or someone you are talking to has bad breath? Should you tell someone when their breath offends? Would you want someone to tell you? I carry mints in my purse at all times. I am constantly popping them, for fear I may have bad breath. I've never been told that I do, but I think I would shrink with shame if I knew I had offending breath. When I encounter someone who does have bad breath, I will offer a mint to him/her also, but not to offend. All my friends know I carry mints, so it is no big deal. But in actuality mints and mouthwashes are only a temporary fix to a problem that almost everyone has at one time or another. It may actually be more effective to rinse your mouth out with water, than to constantly pop mints. Some people may have halitosis due to poor oral hygiene, and then there may be a medical problem causing this condition. When bushing our teeth, we should take special care in flossing and rinsing our mouth of all debris, and also brush the mouth in its entirety. Brush the tongue, and the inside of the mouth, because germs love to hang out there. Our teeth are only one small area of the oral cavity.

What causes bad breath?
As food particles and oils from such foods as onions and garlic break down and form bacteria. As a result a bad odor comes from the mouth and becomes offensive to those around you. You may not smell it yourself, but others will. When we eat onions, it isn't so much that we ate the onions and the smell hangs around in our mouth, but rather onions and garlic are digested, the oils are absorbed into the blood stream where they are deposited into the lungs to be blown off and the smell is pretty bad. Alcohol works the same way that is why a breathalyzer will tell if you are legally drunk. The breathalyzer can measure the amount of alcohol absorbed into the lungs.