Cape One Health

Article 10 in an occasional series on the causes of bad breath

Bad breath is often caused by an accumulation of bacteria in the mouth. As one of the main entry points for foreign object the mouth becomes home to many millions of bacteria. Some of these bacteria come in with food while the others are there to help break down our food into useful parts. These bacteria are living organisms and they eventually die (the majority of human faeces is actually dead bacteria); when they die they begin to break down. The living bacteria break down complex foodstuffs and release noxious gases as they do so. This combination of causes mean that bacteria is one of the main causes of bad breath.

This can be demonstrated by the smell of a person’s breath in a morning. Often this is the worse smelling time of day. The reason morning breath is worse than ‘day breath’ is that less saliva is produced in the mouth while sleeping (unless you’re old, then often this will manifest itself by dribbling out of the side of the mouth, often in public).  Salvia helps to keep the mouth clean with its antibacterial properties.

Brushing teeth, cleaning tongues, gargling with mouthwash, flossing. All these activities can be described as oral hygiene. Performing these tasks on a regular basis will go a long way to ensuring the best possible basis for combatting bad breath. These activities don’t take long, can be easily carried out and, if part of a routine, become almost automatic.  Don’t let apathy prevent you from having a healthy mouth and clean-smelling breath.