The Health Nut Blog

Chronic bad breath, medically known as halitosis, is a major deterrent in social situations. Sufferers of this embarrassing condition are extremely self-conscious, probably as much as the obese are aware of their weight.

Many people fear social situations and relationships because they know that their bad breath will cause people to shun them. The problem is so bad that some people give up their social life completely, because they have previously been rejected due to halitosis. Finally they just relinquish the social scene and sit at home alone and lonely.

In case you are one of the victims of halitosis, you may well know the pain of rejection if you have been refused a goodnight kiss or have been told off about your bad breath. You will be aware of the social concerns caused by this perennial problem and also feel guilty because you are yourself the cause of the affront.

If you were to know that your halitosis is treatable and preventable and you do not need to suffer from this embarrassing condition any more, you can lead a better social and work life. There are now new treatments for bad breath. Though there are many over the counter treatments available, there are some which can be got only on prescription.

Some of the non-prescription remedies contain a blend of natural and herbal ingredients for people who prefer those. Alternatively, there are other, more conventional, treatments also available and the best person to tell you about them would be your dentist. You can ask your dentist for his or her recommendations for treatments for bad breath during the course of your next visit.

The dentist can either guide you by giving you prescription medicines or if he has heard of any other treatments in over the counter medicines. Check out the internet if you want to get another perspective to this problem. A search for halitosis will yield thousands of hits to links on the subject, its causes and its treatments.

It is also important to follow some simple guidelines to fight halitosis and regain your self confidence. You must remember to brush your teeth after every meal as a matter of routine. Don’t forget to brush you gums and tongue as well and rinse well after that. If you are using mouthwash, then use an alcohol free one because alcohol dries out the inside of your mouth and prevents the production of protective bacteria which would otherwise protect you from bad breath.

Do remember that flossing at least once a day is extremely important. It removes the debris between your teeth which can otherwise lead to bacteria formation and cause bad breath. Similarly, brushing your tongue is equally important for the same reason. It is usually the bacteria which is the root cause of the horrible halitosis that makes people shun you.

Apart from poor oral hygiene, there are many underlying causes for bad breath. If you know what they are, it will help you deal with the situation as well as rectify the actual cause of the bad breath. Do you know that halitosis can be in indirect result of diabetes which causes gum disease? Besides that, gastrointestinal problems can be one major cause to bad breath. Liver diseases, too, can cause halitosis.

It is important that you invest the time and trouble to find out the cause of the halitosis and if, in the course of that, you need to change your diet, do so. You will have to eat healthier foods and foods which are not too strong tasting, avoiding raw onions, garlicky foods, pungent fishy dishes or heavily spiced foods, unless you are home alone and certainly not on a date!

# posted by NeilG @ 11:43 AM