What do you mean by halitosis? It means bad breath. It has been found that 25 % of people have been affected by bad breath. Halitosis occurs because of a number of reasons. But oral hygiene is the main reason behind this. Anxiety, embarrassment and worry can occur because of halitosis. Its treatment is very simple. Now I am going to tell you the causes, remedies and treatments for halitosis.
Its treatment
If you will keep your oral hygiene good then halitosis can get reduced gradually. This can involve reducing gum disease and avoiding cavities. Every year for cleaning and checkup you have to go to a dentist at least two times. An antibacterial mouthwash and an antibacterial toothpaste may be recommended by the dentist.
Its causes
Bad breath can occur because of a number of reasons:
- Eating tobacco – A mouth odor of a particular type occurs by eating tobacco. The reason for the bad breath is the gum disease which occurs by eating tobacco.
- Eating food – Another cause of the mouth odor is when in your teeth the food particles stick. Bad breath can also occur by eating garlic and onions. Your breath can get affected when after digestion your lungs get blood containing these two food items in the broken form.
- Dry mouth – Your mouth gets cleaned up naturally with the saliva. Odor can start coming out of your mouth if you suffer from xerostomia which is a disease in which the mouth becomes dry. Sometimes your mouth dries naturally also.
- Oral hygiene – In order to avoid odor in the mouth because of the broken particles stuck in the teeth you need to remove these by flossing and brushing. Because of irregular brushing plaque can build up on the teeth. Plaque is basically the bacteria’s film. Periodontitis can occur because of the plaque. Halitosis can occur because of bacteria if you do not regularly clean the dentures.
- Taking drugs – Saliva can get reduced because of certain medications. This will result in bad breath.
Its symptoms
As per the problem, the bad breath of the mouth can vary. For regularly gauging the bad breath coming from your mouth take the help of a relative or a close friend. If they are not ready to gauge it then do one thing: pour some saliva on the palm of your hand and wait till it dries. After this, smell your palm. If it smells bad then this indicates that you are suffering from halitosis.
Some home remedies for this
- Regular brushing – Every day, after eating food, brush your teeth two times.
- Flossing – For removing the plaque and food particles, floss your teeth daily.
- Clean your tongue – On tongue building up of dead cells, food and bacteria can occur. This happens mostly in the people who smoke a lot. Using a tongue scraper will be a good idea.
- Regularly clean the dentures – It is necessary for you to clean the mouthguard, bridge or denture every day. It avoids building up the bacteria.
- Diet – Don’t drink too much alcohol or coffee because these can cause bad breath in your mouth.
Its diagnosis
After smelling the odor coming out of the patient’s mouth the dentist will give it a rating on an intensity-scale having 6 points. For more precise rating of the odor the dentist can use a number of detectors which are as follows:
- Beta-galactosidase test – It detects the enzyme level.
- BANA test – The bacteria that causes halitosis produces an enzyme. The purpose of this test is measuring the enzyme level.
- Gas chromatography – Its purpose is basically measuring those 3 sulfur compounds that are volatile. These are methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide.
- Halimeter – It helps in detecting the sulfur’s low levels.
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