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How can you avoid bad breath in the morning?

introduction

Bad breath is an unpleasant companion that can frighten our fellow human beings. Very few speak to us honestly, but tend to avoid everyday contact. Bad breath in the morning - often despite brushing your teeth - is a common problem these days.

In addition to the odor-causing bacteria that settle on the plaque on the teeth, decay processes in caries are also a potential source of odors. There are so many constrictions in the mouth in particular that bacteria have a slight chance of spreading and causing mischief.
In rare cases, however, the symptoms can also be caused by a bulge in the esophagus (“diverticulum”).

This works best against bad breath in the morning

Since the development of bad breath is extremely complex, there are many tips that can help depending on the cause of the symptom. The phenomenon is particularly widespread in the morning after getting up. Since the flow of saliva is lower at night than during the day and when there is also mouth breathing and snoring, a dry mouth is often the cause of a bad smell. Evening alcohol or nicotine consumption also contribute to the dryness.

Thorough dental care, at least twice a day, is essential for prevention. At least once, you should also clean the space with a brush or dental floss. In addition, the tongue can be cleaned. Since there are many dimples here, the tongue is a breeding ground for all types of bacteria and often contributes to bad breath.

Check-ups at the dentist allow tooth decay and its degree of putrefaction to be detected at an early stage, so that the resulting bad breath cannot even appear.

Food that causes bad breath should be avoided. These include coffee, beer, wine and proteinaceous products.
A sufficient supply of 2-3 liters of water per day removes the bacteria and thereby reduces bad breath. Bacterial growth is also inhibited by various types of tea. Green tea, aniseed and peppermint have a bactericidal effect. In between, chewing gum can also temporarily help you breath, but the effect is often not long-lasting.

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dental care

Dental care is one of the most important tools for removing bad breath. It is mainly harmful (pathogenic) germs that cause plaque on which food residues and various types of bacteria attach themselves over time. Decay processes are set in motion by metabolic processes, which cause sulfur formation and cause an unpleasant bad breath.

Removing the covering can bring great progress and reduce the odor. To do this, the teeth should be brushed at least twice a day for about 3 minutes with a toothbrush and toothpaste and once with dental floss.

Find out more at: Dental care - how to do it right!

Remove tongue coating

Thorough tongue cleaning is essential to avoid unpleasant bad breath. Saliva, food and cell residues can easily settle in the tongue pits between the taste buds and are further broken down there by bacteria. Sulfur-containing compounds are then built up and create the typically unpleasant odor. They can even temporarily cloud the taste sensation of salty and sweet.

Various tongue scrapers have been developed to remove this coating. For use, the tongue is stretched out far after brushing the teeth, the scraper is placed far back and pulled forward towards the tip of the tongue. This movement should be repeated several times, as most of the bacteria are found in the back third.

In between, the scraper must be washed off with enough water to ensure thorough cleaning. The pressure must be dosed correctly, otherwise the tongue can be injured. If an antibacterial toothpaste is used at the same time, the cleaner is particularly effective, as the toothpaste also prevents bacteria from multiplying. The purchase of a new tongue scraper should be done about every 2 months, similar to the toothbrush.

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Remove tongue coating - that's how to do it right
Oral hygiene

Home remedies

Herbs with a very intense odor are particularly suitable to neutralize the morning odor: fresh parsley, chamomile or clove should be put in the mouth after brushing your teeth and chewed for several minutes.
The effectiveness is also enhanced if the parsley is dipped in apple cider vinegar beforehand.
Another remedy is lemon juice, which is mixed with water and used for gargling. This stimulates the flow of saliva, but it can burn easily if the oral mucosa is injured.
Olive oil also has an odor-inhibiting effect. About 1-2 tablespoons are pulled from one side of the mouth to the other for about 15-20 minutes, as is usual with oil pulling. This binds odor-causing bacteria and kills them if they are used frequently. Then the mouth should be rinsed out with lukewarm water and the teeth should be brushed as usual.
Finally, you can also use baking powder. A rinse consisting of a glass of water and half a teaspoon of baking soda can be used to rinse in the morning and in the evening, thus balancing the pH value in the mouth. At the same time, plaque is removed from the tongue and pathogenic none are washed away.

Read on below: These home remedies help against bad breath

Mouthwash

Mouthwash is an antibacterial mouthwash which is enriched with various good-smelling and odor-neutralizing additives and which should make the breath pleasant by rinsing around the mouth. Bad breath shouldn't even occur with these solutions. However, if it is already there, they help to smell good out of the mouth, especially in the short term.

In addition to chemical compositions (Chlorhexamed) some people also swear by natural products that contain herbs. With preparations containing chlorhexidine, brown discoloration of the teeth occurs after a few weeks of use. Although it can be removed reversibly by tooth cleaning, it is aesthetically extremely unattractive.

The problem, however, is that usually no lasting effect is triggered. Also because the cause is sometimes not in the mouth itself. However, in order to still smell good, it is then rinsed several times a day, so that side effects can then occur.

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What can the dentist do?

Regular visits to the dentist are very important for those affected. The expert can quickly identify problems causing bad breath and eliminate the cause. Treatment is based on the type of disease.

If tooth decay is the cause, it is removed and treated with a crown or a filling. Possibly. the process is so advanced that a root canal treatment has to be performed.
In the case of increasingly stuck plaque and tartar or periodontitis, teeth are cleaned with, if necessary, a subsequent tooth pocket therapy.
Timely treatment is important here in all cases, as this way the progression of the disease can be recognized and remedied at an early stage.

Causes of Bad Breath in the Morning

In most cases, the cause of bad breath in the morning lies directly in the oral cavity because the saliva flow rate is much lower than during the day. Bacteria cannot then be transported towards the stomach and also cause a bad taste, which is often associated with the unpleasant smell.
This process becomes even worse if good oral hygiene has not been followed and there are also bits of food between the teeth. Then the bacteria have even more leeway to settle and even more nutrients to spread.
Furthermore, the smell in the morning depends on what kind of food you ate and when in the evening. Spicy foods stimulate the formation of saliva and also ensure a slightly increased flow rate overnight.
However, having dinner very late can also cause stomach acid to enter the esophagus, which in turn can lead to heartburn and also create a bad smell from the mouth

You can also find out more at: The most common causes of bad breath

With children

The causes of morning halitosis in children are the same as in adults. The smell is due to the dry mouth. Metabolic products of the bacteria cannot be properly transported away and thus cause unpleasant breath. Such a smell can sometimes appear suddenly in children.

If you are sure that you have good oral hygiene and that there is no tooth decay, then a physical illness must be ruled out. Inflammation of the paranasal sinuses or tonsillitis often come into question here.
The little ones also suffer from type I diabetes or stomach problems much less often. However, this should be examined and treated more closely by a doctor.

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Bad breath despite brushing your teeth

Bad breath in the morning is not uncommon. However, if the most important tips are followed, this problem will go away quickly.

In addition to infrequent or improperly performed oral hygiene, dental diseases are also often the cause Halitosisas bad breath is called in technical jargon. Especially periodontitis and caries in the form of holes in the tooth should be mentioned here. These diseases give bacteria enough space to spread.
The dry mouth is another cause, as the odor-causing bacteria can no longer be sufficiently transported away. Adequate fluid intake can help in this case.

Furthermore, the diet must also be mentioned. If a lot of garlic is consumed or a lot of alcohol is drunk, a bad smell manifests itself in the mouth and thus leads to the deterrence of the other person.
Medicines and stress also weaken the immune system and increase the number of bacteria in the mouth.
Finally, one should also think about the possibility of illness in another body system. For example, diabetes, inflammation of the stomach or liver inflammation are suspected of causing halitosis.

Read also below: Bad breath from the stomach - what's behind it?

Halitophobia

Halitophobia is the term used to describe the fear of a really non-existent halitosis that annoys the environment. Those affected feel a bad smell themselves, while the other person does not notice it.
Although the sick person is examined by the doctor and no bad breath can be detected with objective means, he cannot be convinced of this. This is a very typical feature of this disease. An insight into the diagnosis does not take place here, and often even the doctor's competence is questioned. The illness thus falls into the field of psychosomatics.