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What Causes Bad Breath:

Three Leading Factors Did you know:

1. Medications (including allergy medications) cause bad breath

2. Alcoholic beverages cause bad breath

3. Mouthwash with alcohol causes bad breath

4. Smoking causes bad breath

5. Dry mouth causes bad breath

The fact is that everyday common over-the-counter hygiene products, beverages an medications can be the "mysterious" cause of your bad breath! Medications and alcohol dry out the mouth, creating less saliva which leads to less oxygen in the mouth. This combination creates the perfect breeding ground for the Anaerobic Sulfur-Producing Bacteria that cause bad breath. In short simple terms, oral bacteria cause bad breath. Think of your breath in the morning, probably not top-notch. At night your mouth is at rest and drier than in waking hours, so bacteria grow. Upon waking you're greeted with 'morning breath.' Likewise, when you are sick and congested, possibly breathing out of your mouth, you probably noticed your breath smells. This is caused by dry mouth which creates bacteria which causes bad breath.

How do I Avoid the Bacteria That Causes Bad Breath?

Bad breath is caused by excessive bacteria in the mouth. Scientific study and clinical research on bacteria has helped experts discover why bacteria causes bad breath and how to best eliminate it. Surprisingly, those commercials and ads that tell us to pop a mint or use a mouth wash to deal with bad breath are always accurate. In fact many of the mints and washes people use to combat bad breath, actually cause bad breath or make it worse. How so? The bacteria that cause bad breath live and breed beneath the tongue's surface, on the tonsils and in the throat, not on the surface where it can be scraped or brushed off or dissolved with a wash or mint. Instead of getting rid of bad breath, many of these products contain alcohol which dries out the mouth creating a more favorable environment for these odorous bacteria to grow.

Does Food Cause Bad Breath?

You bet your garlic breadsticks they do. Certain foods like garlic and onions can cause bad breath because they contain the same compounds, previously discussed, that create bad breath. If you regularly consume these foods, it can create higher amounts of bacteria and lead to halitosis. The catch is that the Anaerobic Sulfur-Producing Bacteria that can cause bad breath are in everyone's mouth, because they are needed to assist in breaking down proteins in certain foods. Researchers are still searching for a reason why some people are prone to develop more of the beneficial bacteria, which in bulk are no longer beneficial because they cause bad breath.

The Secret to Getting Rid of Bad Breath (halitosis) is...

To truly eliminate the cause of bad breath you must eliminate the odorous bacteria by converting them to non-odorous volatile sulfur compounds. Okay, sounds complicated, right? In other words, make sure you are using the right type of bad breath eliminator to do the job for you. This cannot be done with mouthwashes or mints. These give your mouth a strong taste, which then leads you to believe if your mouth tastes "medicated" or minty, then your breath must smell good.