Many people suffer from bad breath, otherwise known as halitosis, especially in the morning. There are also those who have underlying conditions which can cause bad breath all day.
Reveal Dental, a Cedar Park dental clinic, offers some insight and solutions into bad breath and oral hygiene.
What Causes Bad Breath?
Morning bad breath is caused by the buildup of bacteria in your mouth and throat overnight. While everyone experiences some degree of bacterial growth, your lifestyle has a lot to do with how your breath will smell in the morning.
Drinking a lot of milk or eating/drinking anything sugary will increase the amount of bacteria, making your breath smell worse. Not drinking enough water throughout the day and, in some cases, certain medicines can also cause bad breath.
How to Stop Your Breath from Smelling Bad.
Most of the time, you can take care of bad breath by brushing your teeth and gargling with mouthwash. Brushing removes food particles that can be hotbeds of bacterial activity, and gargling cleanses the lining of your throat.
Avoiding certain foods can also help prevent bad breath, especially foods that have a reputation for giving off a strong odor, such as onions or spicy food. Any type of food that can easily get stuck in your teeth should also be avoided if you are not able to brush for quite awhile.
What Should You do if Common Treatments Don’t Work?
There are times when brushing and mouthwash won’t take away your bad breath. Normally this can happen when you are sick, taking medications that cause bad breath, or if you have an underlying dental condition. Talking with your doctor about mitigating your bad breath because of prescribed medicine can help if there are alternatives. Chewing gum can sometimes help mask bad breath that cannot easily be treated, but it does not take care of the root cause.
Visit Your Local Reveal Dental Dentist in Cedar Park
Dental issues can sometimes lead to bad breath that cannot be treated by just keeping your mouth clean. Typically, these conditions involve teeth that are impacted in a way that traps food in gaps and crevices that toothbrush bristles cannot reach. In these cases, corrective procedures by a dentist in Cedar Park can help fix the problem, sometimes involving one-time appointments, other times requiring several visits.
Book an appointment with Cedar Park dentist at Reveal Dental today to get a professional’s opinion regarding what can be done about your bad breath, and whether or not corrective measures need to be taken.