Causes of Bad Breath

There are many reasons for bad breath. These roughly include a variety of foods, health problems, physiological states, and habits. We can briefly summarize the causes of bad breath as follows:

Foods

Protein-Rich Foods

Bad breath varies depending on the foods we eat. Protein-rich foods cause more bad breath. When the protein residues on the back of the tongue from these foods are broken down by bacteria, malodorous sulfurous gases are released. This is the main cause of bad breath in the mouth.

Health Problems

Dental Problems

Oral infection, a decayed tooth, gum disease, abscess, fistula mouth, tooth coatings, and bridges with closed bodies can cause bad breath. Bacterial plaques settled around tartar and tartar can also cause bad breath. It will be beneficial to brush the teeth, especially with toothpaste that provide high protection (eg, ADA approved; Paradontax Daily Fluoride series (Whitening, Complete Protection and Clean Mint),

Crest Gum Detoxify series (Deep Clean and Gentle Whitening), 

Crest Advanced series (Mint Burst and Deep Clean Mint),

Colgate Total Whole Mouth Health series (Whitening, Fresh Mint Stripe, Deep Clean and Clean Mint), etc. 

Dry Mouth

A decrease in the amount of saliva or saliva secretion causes the mouth to dry out. If the mouth is dry then it starts to smell bad. If bad breath is present before, this odor becomes even stronger. Because normally, bad breath passes into the saliva and dissolves there and the smell does not spread into the mouth. If the amount of saliva is insufficient, bad breath rises and passes into the mouth environment, and starts to smell bad. In these cases, mouth moisturizers (eg, ADA approved; Biotene Dry Mouth Oral Rinse, or as a different choice: TheraBreath Dry Mouth Oral Rinse, etc.) can be very helpful.

Nasal Dryness and Congestion

Nasal dryness and nasal congestion can also cause bad breath. All physiological deviations in the nasal mucosa can cause bad breath. In particular, in case of nasal congestion, the mouth remains open and dries up due to increased mouth breathing. Dry mouth smells. This is the main reason for bad breath that occurs when sleeping with an open mouth.

Constipation

Constipation can cause bad breath. Various gases that pass from the intestines to the blood during absorption come to the lungs with the blood circulation and are expelled from there by breathing. In this respect, in the case of constipation, the concentration of malodorous gases that pass into the blood also increases as smelly substances increase in the intestines. Similarly, the colon diverticulum can cause breath odor. Intestinal parasites, on the other hand, can cause bad breath originating from the digestive tract.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Gastroesophageal reflux can cause breath odor and therefore bad breath. However, for reflux to cause bad breath, there must be an odor when burping. So for this, our stomach must smell. Otherwise, reflux cannot cause bad breath. Helicobacter pylori gastritis is another cause of bad breath, as it causes the stomach to smell. This causes the patient’s breath to smell of nitrate.

Some Chronic Diseases (Diabetes, Renal Failure, ..)

Diabetics also have breath-related bad breath. Their breath specifically smells of acetone. Since this odor is caused by diabetes, it is an odor that will not be relieved by tooth or tongue brushing. Similarly, the breath of kidney failure patients smells of ammonia. Some people (especially diabetics) may have tears due to breath-induced halitosis.

Sinusitis, Tonsillitis, and Pharyngitis

Sinusitis, tonsillitis, and pharyngitis also cause bad breath (eg tonsil stones smell). These are the most common causes of bad breath, especially in children. Because in these cases, the coating of the back of the tongue with bacteria increases and this is the main cause of bad breath.

Postnasal Drip

Postnasal drip can cause odor because it contains more protein, more mucus, and more serum albumin. Because they provide ample fuel for sulfur-producing bacteria.

Physiological Conditions

Menstruation and Ovulation

Bad breath may increase during menstruation and ovulation. During these periods, beta-hydroxybutyric acid and other ketone bodies increased in serum in parallel with acetone excretion in the urine. Therefore, there is an increase in gases that pass into the breath. All these cause bad breath.

Pregnancy

Respiration speeds up in pregnant women as the body volume (especially close to birth) grows too much. Due to accelerated respiration, respiratory alkalosis begins to develop and breath odor occurs. This situation disappears spontaneously after birth. Apart from this, gingivitis may also start due to hormonal reasons in pregnant women. In many pregnant women who do not pay attention to oral health, this causes bad breath.

Hunger

Hunger is another condition that causes bad breath. Bad breath during hunger originates from the digestive tract. We cannot fix this by brushing teeth or tongue. It is a condition that will pass after feeding.

Physiological Halitosis

When we wake up in the morning, we can feel the mouth smell. This is normal and physiologically present in everyone. The bad breath we feel when we wake up in the morning is a mixture of mouth odors from all sources. We call it physiological because it doesn’t need to be treated. After the mouth saliva is activated, this smell disappears by itself. Apart from that, bad breath may increase in old age.

Habits

Soft Brushes

One of the most common causes of bad breath is using a soft brush for mouth cleaning. Those who use soft toothbrushes often experience mouth problems. Because the bristles of the soft brush are easily deformed and lose their effectiveness. Accordingly, choosing medium-hard, sparse bristled and small brushes (eg, ADA approved manual toothbrushes such as Reach Advanced Design Medium Toothbrush or RADIUS Source Brush Medium Toothbrush)

or (eg, ADA approved powered toothbrushes such as Oral-B iO Series 9, or Oral-B Genius 8000, or Phillips Sonicare 4700 ProtectiveClean) to brush our teeth and tongue will greatly reduce our mouth problems.

Alcohol

Alcohol dries the mouth and makes bad breath. The mouth of the person who uses alcohol smells of alcohol, but alcohol turns into other odors in the body, including bad breath. Without leaving alcohol, it is not possible to solve bad breath. For all these reasons, even oral care and oral hygiene products that contain alcohol also cause bad breath. Accordingly, the use of zinc-containing (TheraBreath Plus Fresh Breath, Tom’s of Maine Natural Wicked Fresh, etc.) 

and ADA approved alcohol-free (eg, CloSYS Sensitive Gentle Mint, CloSYS Ultra Sensitive Unflavored, etc.) mouthwash

or other oral care products is very important.

Smoking

The cigarette itself smells bad. However, since it does not cause sulfurous gas in the sense of bad breath, it does not increase bad breath. Smoker’s mouth smells of cigarettes. Similarly, the situation is the same for those who eat onions and garlic. In other words, it is not bad breath, it is their smell. Unless you consume them, your mouth will not stink with their smell. Bad breath is produced in the body, and these are the sources of odor that we get from outside.

Conclusion

If we make a general summary, the most common causes of bad breath are conditions that cause food and bacteria accumulation in the mouth and on the back of the tongue, soft toothbrush, dry mouth, tooth and gum diseases, chronic diseases, and oral care products containing alcohol.