What is that saying again? “only your true friends tell you your mouth stinks”. The ability to tell it to someone’s face that their breath smells like rotten egg mixed with locust beans and immersed into beans water for five days takes a lot of courage, this is so because of the emotions such revelation could stir. It can make you feel like everything in the world is against you.

Halitosis or Mouth odour can be described as an unpleasant smell that oozes out of your mouth when you speak, sleep or shout. It is often caused by the build up of bacteria in the mouth, some Halitosis diagnosis has nothing to do with oral hygiene.
Halitosis can be caused by a lot of factors, the first and foremost is;
– Lack of proper Oral Hygiene: people who fail to take care of their oral cavities are susceptible to having a foul smelling mouth, most people neglect their oral health and see it as less important to other health problems, some don’t even brush daily they just rinse their mouth with water and move on.
– Going for a long period without food or water: This leads to less salivary flow which results into bad breath, the dry mouth allows bacteria to grow. Have you ever noticed how heavy your mouth feels when you have gone for a long period without food or water? Do you notice how it feels in the morning when you just wake up to? The lack of salivary stimulation results into the feeling of heaviness in the mouth, so when you find yourself swallowing your saliva frequently while your mouth feels as if you are wearing lead braces, know something foul is brewing up.
– Medications: some drugs have their own smell which could result into an unpleasant one. There is this antibiotics with a very strong smell that I hate to take whenever I fall sick, it makes the pee, breath and body smell. You can’t belch in peace without the smell of the antibiotics following suit.
– Stimulants: some stimulants like kolanut, coffee can result in to bad breath when adequate oral care is not taken after it consumption.
– Coated Tongues: White coated tongues is as a result of the buildup of the remnants food and liquids which have been consumed. The coat on the tongue harbours tiny particles which is not healthy to your oral health.
– Choice of food: The choice we make when it comes to food affects our oral health, some foods that has garlic, onions, protein in them can result into a malador after consumption. Garlic and Onions have a pungent smell that can be offensive to other people when you engage in interactions with them after eating.
– Alcohol: Consumption of alcohol can result into a bad breath.
– Illness: Some internal illness results to bad breath. Respiratory problems which deals with the lungs can give the mouth a foul smell due to the presence of bacteria and other viruses.
– Oral infections: Swollen gums, faulty crowns, hole in the teeth and so on can lead to mouth odour due to the infection of the teeth.
ORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS MALADY CAN BE TAKEN CARE OF IF
– You brush properly everyday, it is recommended we brush twice daily. in the morning and at night when we are about to go bed, however we should not just brush we should pay attention to the most neglected part of our mouth when we brush which is the tongue. Most of us concentrate on the teeth instead of this important part.
– Chew mint gums and lozenges. Trebbol, Lemon plus, Tom Tom can prevent a dry mouth and a bad breath.
– Rinse the mouth after every meal to prevent some particles from building up.
– Floss regularly and go for routine checkup with your dentist. Dental checkup should not come up when you have a problem with your teeth. It should be a routine like your visits to the pediatrician and the gynecologist, visiting the dentist regularly is not an Oyinbo thing.
– Always try to keep up with your morning meal.
– Drink plenty of water.

Mouth odour is embarrassing and makes you lose your self-esteem. People with mouth odour distance themselves away from people to avoid embarrassment, some would stylishly cover their mouth when they are talking to you. Others keep mum when there are intelligent conversations they can contribute to because their mouth smells, they have been bullied into silence by people who choose to make fun of them rather than help them.

We can help people have a better oral health and unwavering confidence by telling them they have an Oral hygiene problem some people do not know they have Halitosis, this requires us to be sincere in our observation and volunteer to help them wade their way out of that stinking situation, you can start by supplying them with toothbrush, mints, mouthwash.

I am still cautious of how my breath smells around people and I often try to avoid conversation when I have not eaten all day and my stomach growls, at times I result to the mouth odour test I read somewhere which is licking my wrist and sniffing it when the saliva is dry.
Don’t forget to always keep in touch with your dentist.

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