My wife has bad breath all the time

Dear Carolyn: My wife is in pretty good health, and she regularly sees a dentist and brushes her teeth. Yet for the past few years she often will have bad breath.

And it’s not just when you get really close, either; you can be two or three feet away and still smell it, and it’s not good.

I don’t know how to approach her on it. I know she will be offended/pissed/upset somehow.

But I wonder if it is just me, or if business colleagues of hers also notice.

Any advice on how to handle? — Pa.

Dear Pa.: Oh — tell her, tell her, tell her, please.

Without mentioning the “few years” part so she doesn’t have to replay, in utter torment, every encounter she has had with anyone for the past 1,100 days, give or take.

“Your hygiene is good, obviously, but it’s happening often, so I’m worried it’s something else.”

Of course it will be upsetting for her. Mortifying. But she needs to know.

Specifically, she needs to be empowered to take actions to prevent repelling people — though we’re all still in masks! Indefinitely! Woo-hoo! Yes this is sarcasm!

And she needs to do some medical sleuthing in case there’s an underlying cause. Dentist first, then primary care doctor, then onward as needed.

If you have any doubts about being the bearer of foul news, then banish them now.

This is why we form, nurture, treasure our closest relationships: so that we have someone invested enough in our well-being to break our own bad news to us. Ideally, please, pretty please, before we leave the house.