While everyone wakes up with the universally-detested morning breath, there may be times when a coworker or your boss silently wishes you’d breathe in the other direction. According to the best dentist in Morton, IL, you can avoid this embarrassing situation by stopping the smell before it starts. For this reason, we’ve compiled the most effective ways to fight bad breath.
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How to Fight Bad Breath
Maintain Your Dental Hygiene Routine
In most cases, the food you eat usually causes bad breath or halitosis. Certain foods with strong flavors and smells can leave an odor in your mouth. Experts recommend flossing daily to remove food particles from in between your teeth. Besides eliminating interdental plaque, flossing promotes better fluoride retention between teeth when you brush them.
It’s best to use a dentist-recommended fluoride toothpaste and brush continuously for two to three minutes at least twice a day. While you’re at it, be sure to brush your gums, cheek pockets, tongue, and the roof of your mouth to ensure that your mouth is clean.
Clean Your Tongue
Besides giving your tongue a whitish appearance, the buildup of food debris, bacteria, and dead cells between its taste buds and folds contributes to bad breath. For this reason, you’ll want to use a tongue scraper. Dentists recommend adding it to your nightly oral hygiene routine to achieve long-lasting results.
Rinse with a Germ-Killing Mouthwash
Mouthwashes are generally designed to inhibit microbes that cause bad breath and threaten oral health. While antibacterial mouthwashes only combat bacteria, antiseptic mouthwashes target a range of pathogens, including bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and viruses. If you’re not sure what to use, it’s helpful to talk to your dentist.
Dentists recommend mouthwash to remove food debris, prevent plaque buildup, and freshen breath when brushing isn’t possible. To give your mouth a quick rinse, you’ll only need four teaspoons of mouthwash and 30 seconds of swishing before spitting the wash and rinsing your mouth with water.
Drink Plenty of Water
Did you know that a dry mouth promotes bacteria growth, leading to bad breath? Since your mouth is most vulnerable to bad breath due to a lack of saliva, you’ll want to drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep your mouth moist. It’s important to note that certain medications such as antihistamines and diuretics can cause a dry mouth. If you take them, your dentist can recommend an over-the-counter saliva substitute.
Quit Smoking
While smoking is bad for your health, it wreaks havoc on your breath. Each time you smoke, tobacco leaves chemical compounds in your mouth that produce a stale scent. Moreover, this unpleasant smell lingers even after brushing. For this reason, it’s best to give up tobacco use.
Eat More Apples
Apples have a natural fibrous texture that stimulates the gum tissue and eliminates plaque caught between your teeth. Snacking on crisp apples helps wash away bad breath-causing bacteria by increasing saliva production.
Eat Foods High in Probiotics
When you don’t have enough digestive enzymes to break down the food you consume, an unpleasant odor travels to your mouth, causing bad breath. Consuming foods high in probiotics such as sauerkraut, yogurt, miso, kimchi, and pickles can help correct unbalanced intestinal flora and promote digestive enzymes.
Do You Need to See a Dentist in Morton, IL?
At Morton Dental Center, we’re committed to providing the highest standard of care in everything we do. If you’re looking to experience quality dentistry with a small-town touch, contact us today to make an appointment.
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