If bad breath is plaguing your smile, you are not alone. This common oral condition, while distressing, has multiple causes that can be prevented or treated, and today we would like to review just a few of them to help you find relief.

Did you know that your favorite alcoholic drink might be the culprit of your bad breath? Unfortunately, alcohol acts as a diuretic which essentially dries out the mouth. If your mouth lacks sufficient saliva to flush out oral bacteria, this bacteria produces bad breath. Other substances that can result in dry mouth include caffeinated beverages, spicy foods, and of course, smoking cigarettes. If you can avoid or even just limit these behaviors, you will be back on your way to cleaner, fresher, breath.

Your diet also heavily impacts your breath and not just spicy foods. A low carb diet removes carbohydrates from your diet and raises protein intake as the body burns fat for energy. This creates compounds called ketones which are expelled through the breath. If you are on a low carb diet you can help your breath by chewing sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production and freshen your smile.

Oral illnesses can also cause odorous breath. This includes colds, sinusitis, and bronchitis. These invite odor-causing bacteria to grow and feed off of the mucus produced. It also doesn’t help that these illnesses create stuffy noses so you end up breathing out of the mouth and again, causing dry mouth. You can help fight this effect by drinking hydrating fluids to stave off the dry mouth.

Do you find yourself struggling with bad breath? If so, we invite you to come in for a checkup with one of our dentists. We are happy to determine the cause of your bad breath and help you find relief in Orem, Utah. Our dentists, Dr. Dennis DeLoach, Dr. Dallin DeLoach, and Dr. Nick Dargel at Merit Dental are here for you healthy, beautiful smile! Just call 801-375-9511 today.