Bad Breath Guide
Bad Breath is caused by mouth bacteria invading coatings or biofilms that build up on the tongue teeth and nasal passages over a 24 hour period. These bacteria break down proteins that we provide to them through lifestyle choices. The waste product from the bacteria are smelly Volatile Sulphur Compounds (VSCs). Initially these Volatile Sulphur Compounds will dissolve into the mouth saliva and simply cause a bad or sour taste. However once the saliva becomes saturated, or should a dryness of the mouth occur, then the VSCs will evaporate into the mouth and be emitted as the smells of bad breath. The person will not be able to smell this offensive odour due to acclimatisation. Also should the volatile compounds be emitted through the nose then they will still smell as bad breath but the person can then smell their own bad breath.

So anything that increase proteins in the mouth environment will stimulate bad breath bacteria. Anything that increases dryness of the mouth will stimulate the wrong bacteria. Finally anything that increases acid content of the mouth will stimulate bad breath bacteria.

Proteins
The three main protein sources for bacteria are dairy, nasal mucous and bleeding gums. Dairy causes a double problem as not only is it a protein source for bad breath bacteria but also it thickens nasal mucous making it harder to clear away. Of all the dairy products, cheese is the worst offender followed closely by yoghurts, ice cream, and milk. The Australian Breath Clinic recommends that you replace your dairy intake with Rice Milk available from the Supermarket. This milk is a carbohydrate source so it will not stimulate the bad breath bacteria. People that do not tongue clean sufficiently will be high in Hydrogen Sulphide or Rotten Egg Breath. A concentration of 112 parts per billion is sufficient for this odour to become apparent.

Nasal mucous should be cleaned away every day. This is important as mucous that becomes stagnant or remains in the nasal passages for more than 24 hours will become a food source for bad breath bacteria. Also stagnant mucous can stop the tiny hairs (cilia) of the nasal passage from being able to do their cleaning action. The Australian Breath Clinic recommends Sinoclear Hypertonic Saline Nasal Spray to remove any mucous buildup, as Sinoclear is preservative free and contains natural sea salt. When using Sinoclear Nasal Sprays, always read the label and use as directed. If symptoms persist, then consult your healthcare professional.

Blood from bleeding gums, is not only a food source but also a sign of periodontal disease. This means that the pocket between the tooth and the gum has become infected with a particular harmful type of bacteria that sets up a whole chain of events. The bacteria release toxins that stimulate the body's defence reaction. This reaction causes an inflammation of the gums and increased bleeding. Also the reaction can cause erosion of the bony support around the teeth, which in turn increases the pocket size, allowing more bad bacteria to enter the site. Periodontal bacteria are particularly hardy and difficult to remove. Only a thorough cleaning by a dentist can rid you of these bacteria. People that have periodontal problems usually read higher in Methyl Mercaptan or fecal breath. A concentration of 26 parts per billion Methyl Mercaptan is sufficient to cause fecal bad breath.

Dry Mouth
Dry Mouth is a common trigger for bad breath. Dry mouth can increase mouth acid and also deprive the mouth of oxygen. This in turn will degrade the quality of saliva you produce and then finally cause an increase of the anaerobic bacteria that cause the halitosis problem. Oxygen deprivation could also be one of the reasons that halitosis patients have a low concentration of S.salivarius (an aerobic bacteria that is predominate in the mouths of people with fresh breath and has been shown to buffer bad breath). Dry mouth is a very complex issue and can be caused by factors such as alcohol or ethanol based mouthwash, most prescription medicines, many "over the counter" medicines, binge dieting, fad dieting (Atkins diet), binge eating, infrequent eating, smoking, consumption of diet drinks (contain acid), consumption of processed fruit juice or soft drinks (contain sugar).

Stress has a lot to do with bad breath. When you are undergoing “Stress”, it is part of your parasympathetic nervous system, of which you have no control (such as breathing or your heart beat). The fact is that when you are under stress – your mouth gets dry, and your breath gets worse. It’s sort of like when you are sitting in a large lecture hall, and out of nowhere, you are asked to speak to the crowd…your mouth starts to get dry…. and you are unable to speak because you have little or no saliva. This can lead to bad breath instantly. Of course we cannot avoid stress easily, especially if our personality is prone to stress or our job is a stressful one. What becomes essential is that our mouth should be as free of the bad breath bacteria as possible, so that when a stressful event happens we will have less of a problem.

Acid Mouth
Acid is the final problem. In a very acid environment only certain hardy bacteria can survive. Unfortunately these bacteria are the same ones that cause bad breath. So continual high acid will change the bacterial makeup of your mouth. The good bacteria will be killed off and overrun by the bad breath bacteria that cause smells and gum disease. Our saliva plays an important role in preventing this occurrence. It does this by buffering acid mouth back to neutral within 5 minutes of an acid attack. But poor quality saliva will not buffer the acid successfully and thus the problem begins. The GC saliva checker is a great way of monitoring saliva quality and acid content.