Bad breath can be embarrassing, but it is both preventable and treatable. Before you let bad breath interfere with your social, professional, or personal life, learn about the causes and treatments and control it before it controls you.

Causes of Bad Breath
While chronic health conditions such as diabetes mellitus can cause bad breath, most cases of bad breath begin in the mouth. Dietary choices such as a weakness for onions, for example, can lead to bad breath, as can smoking and excessive alcohol intake.

Frequently, bad breath is caused by oral hygiene habits. Tiny particles of food left behind after a meal or a snack become the perfect environment for bacterial growth. The bacteria then flourish between teeth, along the gums, and on the tongue, and create bad breath.

Preventing Bad Breath
When trying to sort out the causes of bad breath, it is important to begin or maintain excellent oral hygiene habits. If you don’t already brush at least twice daily and floss daily, this is the time to start. It is also important to scrape your tongue every night before bed to clean away the bacteria that have been building up on it all day long. Finish up with an anti-microbial mouthwash.

If you cannot brush after every meal, chew parsley or sugarless gum after lunch to help moisten your mouth and freshen the breath. Drinking plenty of water will also help hydrate your mouth and work to rinse away remaining food particles. Avoiding sugary gum, candies, and drinks in between meals can help reduce the risk of bad breath by taking away the fuel upon which the bacteria feed.

Treating Bad Breath

Our cosmetic dentist in Los Angeles can help reduce your bad breath risks by seeing you twice a year for regular checkups and monitoring you for any signs of gum disease, cavities, poorly fitting dentures, and checking for other problems that can cause bad breath.

Our Los Angeles cosmetic dentist can help you determine the source of your bad breath and learn about ways to freshen your breath and gain a healthier mouth in the process.

Source: Dentist Los Angeles

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