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The Top Possible Causes of Bad Breath in Adults

By Ion Doaga

The Top Possible Causes of Bad Breath in Adults

Why do I have bad breath?

You ask yourself when you see how embarrassed are the people talking to you.

Even if, you brushed your teeth this morning things may get out of your control.

Studies report that 80% of the time bad breath problems are a result of poor oral hygiene. In other 20% of the cases, the root causes of a stinky breath are not related to oral hygiene.

How do you know then how to treat your halitosis condition?

If you want to get rid of bad breath once and for all, you need to understand what is the root cause of your unpleasant mouth odor first.

Quick Navigation
Main possible causes of bad breath
1. Cause of bad breath from mouth
1.2 Mouth infections causing bad breath
2. Bad breath causes from lifestyle habits
3. Health problems that cause bad breath
Over to you

Main possible causes of bad breath

Where should you start searching for the reasons of your foul breath?

The top reasons for a persistent smelly breath are hidden in your mouth, health problems, and lifestyle habits.

So, start searching in these areas. 

1. Cause of bad breath from mouth

Bacteria is the main reason for bad breath in your mouth.  And your mouth is the perfect place where it can live and thrive, due to moisture reach environment.

But, not all bacteria is bad for you. The presence of bacteria is vital for maintaining a healthy oral microbiome. Some bacteria help with digestion. 

But, like all living things, bacteria needs to eat.

It feeds out of mucus, food particles, and dead tissues. It breaks down the organic matter into smaller molecules to absorb nutrients. 

As a result, some of the foul-smelling byproducts of these reactions escape into the air where they meet our innocent noses. 

Basically, there are two main reasons why you have bad breath coming from your mouth. And both of these reasons depend on how much food bacteria finds to feed itself. 

1.1 Poor personal hygiene is the main reason for halitosis

Bacteria are constantly looking for new places where they can eat. And their favorite places to stop by are:

  • On the back of your tongue
  • On the surface of the tongue
  • Between teeth
  • Beneath gums
  • In oral appliances or dentures that fit badly or are not cleaned: If you’re not fortunate to be born with healthy and beautiful teeth you might need to wear uncomfortable teeth adjusting tools. These tools must also be kept clean. Food is stuck in brackets and dentures and may become a source for bad breath.

To prevent the expansion of bacteria in the mouth and further down the throat it’s crucial to maintain good oral hygiene.

But , if you don’t brush your teeth, floss, scrape your tongue or visit a dentist for checkups, bacteria builds more sources for Sulphur smells. 

  • Plaque

To prevent the expansion of bacteria in the mouth and further down the throat it’s crucial to maintain good oral hygiene.

But , if you don’t brush your teeth, floss, scrape your tongue or visit a dentist for checkups, bacteria builds more sources for Sulphur smells. 

  • Cavities

Large open cavities that eat out the enamel and the dentin of the teeth

  • Gum disease

This disease separates the gums from the teeth forming pockets where bacteria can thrive

1.2 Mouth infections causing bad breath

  • Post nasal drips: mucus coming down your throat from the nose is a source for microbes to find nutrients 
  • Tonsil stones:  is a source for bad breath because bacteria collect on the stones

2. Bad breath causes from lifestyle habits

2.1 Foods that cause bad breath

When you eat onions, garlic, or other foods with strong odor, your stomach absorbs oils from these types of foods during digestion. These oils pass into your bloodstream and travel to your lungs. That produces an odor related to the foods you’ve eaten.

In this case, the unpleasant odor from the mouth can be hardly removed by teeth brushing, eating mint gums or using mouthwashes. You’ll have to wait until these strong odor products are entirely consumed by your body.

The good news is that the odor from garlic or onions is not harmful and is a temporary problem.

2.2 Dieting

  • Ketone breath: Low-carb or ketogenic diets burn the fat in your body for fuel. This produces chemicals called ketones that are released through breath, producing an odd fruit-and-fruit or acetone odor. This makes your breath smells bad when you're hungry.
  • Hunger breath: bad breath may occur when regularly skipping meals or fasting, which can reduce the amount of saliva in your mouth.

2.3 Tobacco products

Smoking cigarettes or cigars can cause bad breath, stain your teeth, reduce your ability to taste foods, and irritate your gums.

2.4 Bad breath caused during menstruation

Research have reported that bad breath in women tended to increase before and during their period.

2.5 Dry mouth

Dry mouth is a symptom that indicates a that you don’t have enough saliva in your mouth.
Saliva helps moisten and cleanse the mouth. It washes away the odor-producing microbes and prevents bad breath.

Some of our lifestyle habits cause dehydration in the mouth. For example: 

  • Saliva production nearly stops during sleep. That’s why you have bad breath in the morning and it’s recommended to drink water first thing in the morning. 
  • You can also have a dry mouth symptom if you are snoring or breathing through the mouth, during while sleeping.
  • Some foods and drinks also dehydrate your mouth. For example, coffee, soda’s, fast foods, etc, create a welcoming environment for microbes that cause bad breath.

3. Health problems that cause bad breath

Health problems may also affect you’re your breath.  

Unfortunately, in these cases you can’t brush your teeth to get rid of bad breath. You need to treat the health problem and this can be done by a doctor.

Health problems causing bad breath:

  • Chronic bronchitis
  • Kidney disease
  • Diabetes
  • Gastroesophageal reflex or GERD
  • Oral yeast infection
  • Liver malfunction
  • Pneumonia
  • Influenza

Over to you

As you see, there are plenty of root causes for bad breath. It’s important to mention that most of these bad breath causes are consequences of bad lifestyle habits.

Since you figured out the habit that causes bad smell out of mouth you can eliminate it from your lifestyle.

No guessing anymore.

Follow a regular oral hygiene routine. Brush your teeth on a daily basis, floss and use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue from the bad breath causing bacteria.

ABOUT ION DOAGA

Ion is the founder of the Wellness Gaps blog. He is a healthy habits enthusiast and a former martial arts athlete. He believes that your habits reflect your consciousness in life. By building better habits you show the willingness to become a better and ethical person.

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