HOW TO TEST IF YOU HAVE BAD BREATH

AND TIPS TO MAKE IT ‘FRESH’

Walking around with bad breath is something that every one of us has probably done at times – and experts agree, it’s a common problem that most people experience at some point in their lives for a variety of reasons.

But there are ways to avoid the embarrassment. To start with, you can check if you are packing a smelly punch with a simple test: lick the inside of your wrist and sniff it.

“If it smells bad, you can be fairly sure that you have bad breath and can do something about it!” advises Dirna Grobbelaar, oral hygiene advisor for Ivohealth, and a member of the Oral Hygienists Association of South Africa (OHASA).

A few explanations for bad breath include something you ate, like garlic and onions; a dry mouth (medically known as xerostomia), possibly from medications you are taking; being in ketosis due to your diet; infections in the throat, nose, and sinuses, or lungs; conditions such diabetes, liver and/or kidney problems; smoking; and most commonly, poor oral hygiene and gum disease.

Important to note is that the bacteria that cause bad breath, also irritate the gums, causing bleeding. Once you have bleeding gums, ‘bad’ bacteria can enter your bloodstream and increase your risk of more serious health problems such as dementia, heart disease, strokes, kidney problems, and even pre-term birth.

So, avoiding bad breath through good oral hygiene is a vital part of caring for your overall health and wellness.

The first step in overcoming bad breath is to keep your mouth healthy by adopting a good oral hygiene routine.

According to Grobbelaar, effective oral care is the key to beating bad breath. If bacteria and food debris are not removed from your mouth, they break down and decay, releasing foul odours in the process.

Many people think that brushing alone is enough to keep their mouths clean. However, even when done correctly for a full two minutes, brushing will only remove about half the plaque on your teeth and gums.

So, whilst brushing twice a day is of paramount importance, it is not enough to prevent bad breath. So, what is the solution?

As your toothbrush can’t reach between the teeth, daily interdental cleaning is essential to remove trapped plaque and food debris.

According to OHASA, only about a third of South Africans clean in-between their teeth every day, and almost half of them are not doing it correctly.