Causes of Bad Breath: Oral Hygiene

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If fresh breath and better oral hygiene is important to (and it should be) pay attention to the following paragraphs. If not, just look at it from a financial standpoint. Setting aside the fact that mouth bacteria are living creatures and as such give off waste just like you and I do causing a nasty bad breath odor, just think about the cost. Between fillings, root canals, dentures at an early age and breath mints the dollars add up. That's why good oral hygiene makes sense.

Imagine that you've been doing yard work, planting flowers. When you're done, you have three choices for cleanup. 1.) Don't do it (yuck). 2.) Put a drop of soap on your hand give 'em a quick rinse and be done. 3.) Thoroughly rinse off the loose dirt before working up a good lather of soap and scrubbing clean.

Of course, choice number 3 is correct. Who would want to leave the day's filth on their hands to be carried throughout the house and spread to their food among other things? As far as your dental health is concerned, being thorough is also the answer. Each day you consume a wide range of foods and fluids. All sorts of particles can get lodged or squished in between your teeth and gums. These are all significant causes of bad breath and tooth decay. It makes sense to take some time to clean these areas.

Most people brush their teeth once daily. Even though we've been told since childhood that we should brush after each meal and before bedtime, most of us only do it in the morning. Worse, the average time spent on this routine is only 17 seconds. Considering everything we've discussed thus far, this is not nearly the amount of attention that a healthy mouth needs for healthy teeth and to avoid the causes of bad breath. The following is a suggested routine courtesy of Dr. Katz, an expert in the area of dental hygiene and causes of bad breath.

This method should be used two or three times daily, preferably after meals. For the best results do this after every meal and at betime. If you are unable to adhere to this routine, it is recommended that you use Dr. Katz's chewing gum, breath drops or breath spray to avoid bad breath. Be sure when using these items that you do not dilute them with water and keep mouth rinses out of the sunlight to achieve the best results.

Step One:
Get a good dental floss and use it between ALL your teeth especially the back teeth. Food gets lodged here and spoils. If you smell a nasty funk when flossing, you know what I mean.

Step Two:
Use a tongue scraper to mildly scrape your tongue being careful to remove only the top layer of moisture. You do not want to scrape so hard that your tongue bleeds, just enought to pull off the "top coat".

Step Three:
Rinse the scraper and place a little Therabreath Plus toothpaste on it before gently scraping it over your tongue for a few strokes. This allows the toothpaste to go to work on the now exposed surface of the tongue. Leave this on your tongue until you are done brushing.

Step Four:
Put some TheraBreath Toothgel on your brush and thoroughly brush for the next three minutes. Take care to get the line where your gums and teeth meet as well. Spend some time carefully and gently brushing the inside of your cheeks as well as the roof of your mouth. Make sure that when you're doing your gums, that you angle the brush so that the bristles move between the gums and teeth. Avoid rinsing at this point but spit out the debris you have dislodged.

Step Five:
Rinse using the TheraBreath Oral Rinse for a minute to a minute and a half. Swish the rinse around your teeth thoroughly to remove all the debris and tooth gel left over from the previous steps. Try not to tip the rinse bottle to your mouth but put two capfuls into a clean glass. Placing the bottle directly on your mouth can contaminate the product.

Step Six:
Gargle with the rinse for about one and half minutes before spitting it out. Do your best to gargle with the rinse as far back as you can without making yourself gag. Avoid eating for the next twenty minutes.

Step Seven:
If your bad breath is caused by sinus drip, blow your nose before applying one or two drops of the TheraBreath Nasal Sinus Drops (or spray) in both nonstils. Cock back your head to get the product back into the sinuses.

Dr. Katz's products can be found (at a discount) here.

Note: This is a general guide to using Dr. Katz's products. Be sure to read to the instructions on each product before use. If something on the label conflicts with this information, use the packaging instructions.

joseph commented on 02 Nov 2009, 03:07:43
i got married five month from now and i noticed a bad breath from my wifes mouth, i struggled to share it with her but finally i worn the battle, the response was she as well wondering how to break the news to me that at time i keep her uncomfortable due to a bad breath from my mouth especially when i had not eaten anything for a longer period of time. we carefully practice oral hygiene, at least morning brushing and before bed, but we still have the awful experience, we have tried using the shewing gum in between meals but it profits less. what might be the cause, how do i know if it's sinus drip or any others cause?

guest commented on 16 Jan 2010, 01:15:55
If you can't figure out what's causing your bad breath, try a number of things, starting with the Dr. Katz remedy mentioned above.

Matt commented on 31 Jan 2010, 22:53:20
I've had a tough time determining the cause of my bad breath. I tried the breath sprays and of course brushing and rinsing. Nothing seems to stop my bad breath. Does anyone know if the Dr. Katz remedy really works?

guest commented on 07 Feb 2010, 14:00:33
I for one, have had success with Dr. Katz' remedy. I will continue to use it as long as they make it.

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