What are the causes of bad breath or halitosis?
What are the most common causes of bad breath in humans
Whether you are suffering from bad breath or halitosis or you are surrounded by people with bad breath, this aspect will affect you as some point. Apparently it’s not a serious condition in the sense that it doesn’t pose a serious threat on your life, and is very frequent. Up to 50% of people above 60 years old have it.
There are a number of causes and should not be treated lightly, because it can hide serious conditions with potential to affect your health in very serious ways. The breath sprays and chewing gum only hide the smell, they do nothing to treat the cause. It’s necessary to identify and treat the causes as soon as possible.
What causes bad breath?
1. The main cause in poor oral hygiene.
Not brushing your teeth regularly or superficially, not using dental floss and mouthwash favor the proliferation of bacteria that decomposes food to produce compounds that cause bad breath as well as a series of dental problems. Cavities form this way, and gum problems which, left untreated can lead to losing your teeth.
The tongue must also be cleaned properly. Bacteria „camp” on both sides of the tongue. On the upper side we can clean it with a special tongue scrapper or with certain, specially designed brushes. Don’t neglect the lower side, even if it’s considerably harder to clean than the upper side. The actual quantity of bacteria of the tongue depends on how lean of rough the surface is. Some people have a rougher surface of the tongue. In these cases a larger number of bacteria tend to develop on the surface of the tongue. It’s also harder to remove them as the bacteria has more places to „hide”. That is why if you have a rough tongue you must pay special attention to it and clean it better. It is recommended to clean your tongue two times a day, in the morning and in the evening. Also you must clean the inside of your cheeks.
2. Dental problems
Dental problems are caused almost exclusively by bad bacteria such as Steptococcus Mutans or Lactobacilli. These bacteria through their metabolism products (acids) destroy the enamel of the teeth and cause cavities. These cavities, if you have a poor hygiene, retain food which decomposes and causes the bad smell as well as aggravates the cavity. In most cases many cavities also mean gum problems such as gingivitis and periodontal disease.
Gingivitis represents the inflamation of the gum tissue as a response to the bacterial activity in the dental plaque. If left untreated gingivitis evolves into the distructive form of periodontal disease. Initially the gingival retraction allows food get stuck in that spot providing all that bacteria need to multiply. In time periodontal abscesses (basically pockets of infection inside your gums) form, which are filled with bacteria. Food will also find its way into these periodontal pockets and decompose causing of course a bad smell.
3. What you eat
One of the most frequent causes of bad breath is caused by eating certain foods that emit a very strong odor as garlic or onions, some condiments or cheeses.
Other foods, even if they don’t have a strong odor, they do cause one once consumed. Coffee, alcoholic bevrages and sweet carbonated drinks cause dehidratation and leave a sediment on the surface of the teeth that causes a bad breath.
Another source of bad breath is having a diet low in fibers and rich in carbohydrates.
4. Dry mouth
Saliva includes compounds that destroy bacteria. During the night, the quantity of saliva produced by the body drops, producing an unbalance in the level of bacteria present in the mouth, that can cause pH variations. This in turn causes the morning bad breath. This, usually goes away after the morning brushing or after the first glass of water.
There are conditions, sadly such as xerostomia, where the dry mouth is caused by a condition of the salivary glands, or by taking certain medication, or by some systemic conditions such as diabetes or lupus.
5. Smoking
This one was pretty obvious. Smoker’s breath is caused by the accumulation on the teeth, gums, tongue and cheeks of nicotine and cigarette byproducts. In smokers the soft tissues of the mouth are dryer, the CO2 quantity in the mouth is higher, which in turn causes oxygen levels to lower. Thus a medium for bacterial proliferation is created. This in turn creates teeth and gum problems which create more bad breath.
6. Medical conditions
Some medical conditions can be associated with bad breath. Identifying these conditions is not easy and requires help from a medical professional.
- Upper airway infections and allergies can often produce a bad taste in the mouth and a bad smell. If a person can breath only orally, the mouth will dry which in turn will cause a bad breath, doubled by the air coming from the congested nose.
- Gastro-intestinal conditions, slow metabolism, imperfect digestion gastritis, GI ulcers, constipation, intestinal worms can be a cause of bad breath.
- If you wake up in the morning with a really bad breath which seems to be coming from your stomach, it’s possible that the orifice that joins the esophagus with the stomach does not close during the night, so the bad smell from your GI tract makes its way to your mouth. This is often associated with hyperacidity syndrome. This should go away after you drink a glass of water of eat something.
- Lung cancer also generates bad breath.
In order to get rid of the bad breath you must first identify what causes it.
If there are not serious life threatning conditions, then you should hydrate preoperly (at least 2L of liquids / day), avoid certain foods, practice good oral hygiene, and visit your dentist regurarly once every 6 months.
In cases of „emergency” you can use mouthwash or sugarfree gum, or chew aromated foods such as: cinnamon sticks, ginger, parsley or basil.
A future article on things you can do in order to improve your breath will follow.
You should also read our article on how to get rid of bad breath.
