Odour zone: BAD BREATH

One in three people suffer from bad breath, and this rises to one in two after the age of 40, says Dr Geoffrey Speiser of the Australian Breath Clinic. The main causes include:

■ Poor mouth cleaning – including the tongue. One of the best ways to check whether you have bad breath is to scrape the back of your tongue with a spoon then smell it. A rotten egg smell is the giveaway indicator of poor oral hygiene.

■ Gum disease – often accompanied by a faecal smell.

■ Throat mucus – often accompanied by a cabbage or petrol smell.

■ Medications that dry up saliva, including antidepressants, high blood pressure medicines, antihistamines, indigestion remedies, hormone replacement medicines and birth control pills.

■ Dieting – especially high-protein, lowcarb diets. S Dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yoghurt, and also onions, caffeine, alcohol and any food that contains sugar.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

■ Brush your teeth regularly, floss and clean your tongue every day.

■ Visit a dentist for regular cleaning and check-ups.

■ Dairy can be a double problem: by providing a protein source for bad-breath bacteria and by having the added effect of thickening nasal mucus. If this is the culprit consider replacing ordinary milk with rice or soy milk and cut down on cheese.

■ Promote saliva production by chewing sugar-free gum and avoiding coffee, fruit juice and diet drinks.

■ If you’re on a diet, have regular snacks of rice cakes with a cup of tea to keep carbohydrate levels up. ■ Don’t use commercial mouthwashes for more than a week as they contain ethanol and kill both good and bad bacteria. A lack of good bacteria can lead to bad bacteria getting out of control. Opt for a mouthwash that promotes a balance.

SEE A DOCTOR IF YOUR BREATH SMELLS OF . . .

■ Nail varnish remover, which can indicate diabetes.

■ Urine, which can indicate kidney failure.

■ A fishy odour, which can indicate liver failure.

DID YOU KNOW?

Drinking green tea can help. It helps destroy compounds in the mouth that lead to bad breath, tooth decay and even mouth cancer.