It’s hard to escape morning or coffee breath, but this short-lived issue is nothing a good toothbrush and floss can’t fix. However, when a foul mouth odor follows you around everywhere you go, a severe dental problem might be in sight. A dentist in Decatur, AL, tells you which factors can be to blame for your bad breath and what you can do to revert the situation.

Common Culprits Behind Bad Breath

Poor Dental Hygiene

Chances are adults and professionals have been telling you how important it is to care for your teeth since a young age but haven’t taught you how to do it properly. Tilting your toothbrush at the wrong angle, avoiding floss, or not brushing often can take any pristine smile down. If you don’t use your dental tools properly at home, you don’t remove all bacteria around your mouth. As a result, your teeth, gums, and tongue end up filled with food remains and harmful substances that damage oral tissue and force you to hide your smelly breath.

Strong-scented Food

If you’re a fan of anchovy pizza or garlic pasta, you must have had someone point out how strong your breath gets. When you have a spicy or scented meal, some particles stick around your teeth and gums and instantly change your minty breath. After you digest your food, nutrients and chemicals also travel back to your lungs through your bloodstream and make you exhale smelly air.

Some foods are popular for being both delicious and stinky, such as:

• Coffee
• Garlic
• Onion
• Fish
• Alcohol
• Tobacco

Over 30 million adults in the US smoked cigarettes in 2020, and this number increases every year due to the popularity of this harmful habit. As cool as smoking looks, it severely affects your gums, weakening the tissue and making you prone to infection. Since nicotine and tar also dry your mouth and tongue, saliva can’t clean up lingering bacteria, letting chemicals give you a stale and noticeable stench.

Tooth Abscess

Finally, trauma or improper dental care can land you a visit to the dentist for a tooth abscess that also changes your breath. When you let decay take over your mouth, bacteria get to your tooth pulp and severely infect the tissue. Likewise, when you hit your head and crack one or more teeth, you open a door for food remains to access deeper layers and cause the same effect. Since an abscess is located in the most sensitive area of a tooth, it can result in excruciating pain, awful-tasting saliva, and bad breath.

How to Prevent Bad Breath

Proper Tooth Brushing

The first step toward pleasant-smelling breath is effectively brushing your teeth to guarantee no food is left behind. Position your brush at a 45-degree angle, use it for at least two minutes, and repeat the process two to three times a day. Clean in between your teeth with floss, and avoid aggressive tools like hard-bristle brushes.

Regular Cleanings

Aside from doing a good job at home, scheduling regular cleanings twice or more times a year lets a professional clean your mouth thoroughly and prevent severe issues. A qualified dentist also uses cleanings to look for early signs of cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer, keeping your smile safe.

Do You Need a Dentist in Decatur, AL?

Poor hygiene, food, tobacco, and an abscess can bring about bad breath, but you can stop this situation from hindering your daily life by brushing and visiting a dentist. Our team can help you restore your fresh breath, so contact us today to schedule a visit.