How to Go About Bad Breath Treatment

Many dental problems seem obvious to treat, especially when the burden can be placed entirely on a dental expert. Sometimes, however, some oral problems take more than the initiative of a Gilbert dentist. You may have to be intentional about pursuing treatment options for some particular infections in your mouth.

When it comes to bad breath treatment, that seems like the best way around the problem. It is a common oral problem that requires a particular kind of attention to completely rid your mouth of the odor.

Exploring Bad Oral Breath

It is a dental problem when patients produce a displeasing odor from their mouths. In some cases, the odor disappears after a couple of hours. However, depending on what the cause of the odor is, the smell may remain there for days.

Figuring out the underlying cause of your bad breath is the best place to start as you seek treatment. Understand that the smell can come from different parts of your mouth, depending on the causes thereof.

Causes of Bad Breath

Tracing back to the root cause of your bad breath can help you determine the most suitable treatment. Some of the common causes are:

1. Dental decay – when your teeth are significantly decayed, the infection and bacteria thereof may cause you to have bad breath. This could be the case despite your efforts to brush your teeth. As soon as you start to experience a toothache or even flashes of tooth pain that come and go, it is expected that your breath will smell bad as the infection spreads.
2. Open wounds – whether it is a surgical wound or a mouth sore, an open wound can cause bad breath.
3. Dry mouth – when there isn’t enough saliva in your mouth, bacteria seem to get too comfortable in there. While dry mouth is a condition that may require treatment for some people, it is not always the case. Sometimes being quiet for too long or skipping meals can have such an effect on your mouth, causing bad breath.
4. Gum disease – is a very common infection in oral health care. It features an infection if the gum tissue, they can sometimes spread to other parts of the mouth like the jawbone. Any patient with gum disease is very likely to have bad breath for a long time before they seek treatment for the underlying issue.
5. Poor oral hygiene – this is also a common reason why some people have bad breath. Neglecting your oral hygiene allows plaque to form on the surfaces of your teeth. Since it features a mixture of saliva, bacteria, food residue, and acids, your breath will be off-putting.
6. Foods you eat – some foods have very concentrated smells that do not wash away easily. Such include garlic and onions. If you eat them raw, most of the times, you will have a rather off-putting smell for a couple of hours, or even longer.

Seeking Treatment for Bad Breath

Once you successfully determine what the underlying cause of the bad breath is, treatment is that much easier. Gum disease, medically termed as Halitosis, has many treatment options. Some require lifestyle adjustments, while others may call for more drastic measures. Some of the treatment options include:

1. Work on your oral hygiene – brushing your teeth twice and flossing daily is not a tall order if you want to excel in your oral health. While at it, remember to brush your tongue, as it can easily be the hideout for most bacteria in your mouth.
2. Watch what you eat – while onions and garlic should not be entirely cut off from your diet, watch when and how you eat them. If you will be in a social gathering soon, avoid eating such foods, especially when raw.
3. Treat underlining oral issues – no matter how much you brush your teeth a decayed tooth still needs treatment. The same goes for gum disease, tonsillitis, mouth sores, to mention a few. If you treat the underlying oral problems, the bad breath may not even require treatment.
4. Use mouthwash – your dentist can even suggest a mouthwash made for treating gum infections. This can help kill bacteria in your mouth and keep your breath fresh at all times.