Bad Breath: To Tell or Not to Tell

Making a decision whether or not to tell someone their breath is offensive can be a very agonizing thing. I am not talking just about the normal food-borne breath bad. I’m especially talking about the funky; something curled up inside them and died bad. Of course it helps if you don’t just blurt it out in front of other people, but the truth is nobody ever takes the news that they have bad breath very well regardless of how you tell them. 

Either they get offended and defensive or they play it off by blaming it on something they just eat as being the cause of the offensive odor. Most times than not the only time people feel comfortable telling someone they have bad breath is in the middle of an argument. For me, the decision to tell them is based out of concern and all depends on who the person is. If it’s someone I met in passing and probably won’t ever see again I won’t say anything. But if it’s a friend, a member of my family, or a potential suitor I definitely will say something to them. It may take me a minute to find the right time to say something, but trust and believe it will happen.

What gives me the courage to address this sensitive issue with those people? Glad you asked. The way I see it is, it is my duty to let my friends and family know that they have bad breath because I care about them and I don’t want them to be embarrassed or have people talk about them behind their backs. As for a potential suitor, that’s easy – I like to kiss and at some point his tongue is going to be in my mouth so his breath has to be pristine. It’s kind of hard if not near impossible to enjoy kissing someone who has bad breath. There is always this thick funky film that coats your mouth and throat and you spend an excessive amount of time spitting in an attempt to rid your mouth of the invasion. Besides, if the situation was reversed where I am the one with the bad breath, I would want to know about it so I could do something about it. 

It seems like most people who have bad breath don’t realize they do. Could be because it has been going on for so long that they grew accustomed to the odor and can no longer smell it; they think that no one else can smell it; or they probably feel it’s not that bad because no one has ever said anything to them.  What they fail to realize is that most people would quicker tell someone else rather than address them directly. I don’t know why that is. If you care about someone why would you not tell them they have bad breath? It’s like seeing your friend come out the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoes or worst, seeing her skirt tucked into her underwear in the back and not say anything to her.  Its right up there with those little things that happen to people that can be a bit embarrassing if allowed to go unchecked for any length of time, i.e., spinach stuck between their teeth, label/tag hanging out the top of their clothes, lipstick on their teeth, etc. At some point you just have to say something.

According to Wikipedia, there are over 600 types of bacteria found in the average mouth - wow. See why you need to brush often? Many of these can produce high levels of foul odors when incubated in the laboratory. So just imagine what is going on in your mouth which may be closed for hours at a time, especially when you are asleep. The odors are produced mainly due to the breakdown of proteins into individual amino acids, followed by the further breakdown of certain amino acids to produce detectable foul gases. It also reports that the most common location for mouth related bad breath is the tongue. Tongue bacteria produce malodorous compounds and fatty acids, and account for 80 to 90% of all cases of mouth-related bad breath.  The second major source of bad breath is the nose. In this occurrence, the air exiting the nostrils has a pungent odor that differs from the oral odor. Nasal odor may be due to sinus infections. Other sources of bad breath includes: tonsils, esophagus, gum disease, and stomach.

While any degree of bad breath is offensive, chronic bad breath or halitosis, as it is commonly known, is the worst. Most people who suffer from bad breath have no idea that it could be a sign that there is something seriously wrong. While bad breath can be as a result of what you eat and/or due to improper oral hygiene, i.e., infrequent/improper brushing, failure to brush your tongue or to floss between your teeth, it can also be due to more serious issues, i.e., tooth decay, periodontal disease, gastrointestinal issues. Only your doctor or dentist can say for sure if your breath is pungent due to the latter.  So if you suspect that you have something more than typical food-borne bad breath, you should definitely speak with your doctor or dentist. In the meantime there are some quick things you can do to suppress bad breath.

First let’s do the self-breath test. Take your two hands and bring them together like a cup. Now cup your face tightly so that both your nose and mouth are covered. Now breathe out of your mouth and inhale deeply through your nose. Smell anything? If you do then you need to take additional steps to ensure fresh breath. Start by paying more attention to how you brush. This may include extending the length of time you actually brush your teeth to 2-3 minutes if you are not currently doing it for that long. Brush the outer surfaces of your upper teeth, then your lower teeth. Brush the inner surfaces of your upper teeth, then your lower teeth. 

Brush the chewing surfaces, and finally be sure to brush your tongue. Go as far back as it is comfortable for you to reach. You should floss between your teeth at least twice a day to remove food particles that may become lodged between teeth. Be sure to change your toothbrush every three months or whenever it shows signs of wear.  Brushing with baking soda is great for removing stubborn stains and rinsing with diluted hydrogen peroxide is great for killing bacteria among other things. I have also found that drinking two table spoon of liquid chlorophyll in eight ounces of water nightly just before going to bed to be a great way to help control internal odor in the stomach. You can pick up a bottle of chlorophyll at your local health food store.

We may not always be able to control every aspect of our lives, but for those areas that we can, we should do everything we can to ensure we manage it to the best of our abilities. Let’s face it; no one really wants to smell your breath. So in the interest of those around you and to avoid embarrassment, do your part to ensure your breath is not offensive to others. 

And if you run into someone who has bad breath, do them and yourself a favor and tell them about it, but please use tact. You never know – they just may end up kissing you one day. I’m just saying - I got issues, what about you? )i(

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