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Halitosis and bad breath are actually the same thing. Halitosis is the medical term for a condition that can affect up to a quarter of adults.
The first sign that you might have a problem is when people start to recoil when you lean in to kiss them.
It has been suggested that blowing into your hand can tell you if you have bad breath, but breathing alone is not enough to bring forward the smells that linger at the back of your throat. The best test is to lick the inside of your wrist and then sniff it. If it smells bad, then the chances are your breath does too.
Bad breath or halitosis can occur for a variety of reasons, but the most common is due to the sulphur-based gas released by bacteria building up on any accumulated food debris between the teeth.
The best way to avoid this is to brush twice a day, for at least two minutes, to ensure that all the surfaces of each tooth have been cleaned, not forgetting to brush the tongue as well. Flossing between the teeth is another good way to eradicate any of the more stubborn particles.
Drinking coffee or eating onions, garlic and other strong-smelling foods can exacerbate the problem.
Halitosis can also be a warning sign of gum disease so, if you think you have this problem, you should visit your dentist or hygienist to check that there has not been a build up of plaque on the teeth.
If your dentist can find nothing amiss, then you should assess other medical possibilities.
Smoking can cause short term bad breath, as can certain medical conditions like xerostomia (dry mouth), sinusitis, various bronchial ailments, throat or tonsil infections or polyps.
Excessive bacterial activity on the tongue, possibly due to post-nasal drip (catarrh coming down the back of the throat from the sinuses and nasal passages), is another common culprit.
To rule out all of these possibilities, you should visit your doctor.
Drinking lots of water and eating a healthy fibrous diet that avoids some of the stronger-smelling foodstuffs can help with bad breath, but most mouthwashes or minty sweets only serve to mask the smell. These merely cover up the symptoms and can make things worse once the initial mintiness has worn off.
In some quarters, it is thought that bad breath could be linked to a proliferation of candida albicans in the mouth so eating plain, unsweetened yoghurt containing probiotics could help with the problem.
There is also evidence that halitosis in women of a certain age is due to the imbalance in hormone levels of the Menopause.
All these areas need to be addressed in your search for a cure to this distressing problem.
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Source by Keira Benson