From Health section, Today daily, 03-Jun-2008 edition
Take Your Bad Breath Away
By Eveline Gan, in collaboration with Health Promotion Board, Singapore
- You can get rid of it byhaving breakfast, drinkinglots of water and eating right
YOU gargle some mouthwash on your way to a hot date, thinking that it will freshen up your breath.
But barely halfway through the rendezvous, your mouth starts to feel dry and that offensive breath you were trying to mask returns at full force, wilting the flowers your date has given you.
If the above scenario sounds familiar to you, you are not alone.
According to American dentist Harold Katz, up to a third of the world’s population suffers from chronic bad breath, or halitosis. Many also have this embarrassing condition from time to time.
Dr Katz, the founder of the Thera-Breath System and The California Breath Clinics in the United States, was in town last week to speak about halitosis at a public education seminar.
A dry mouth — which can occur if you smoke, take certain medication (usually prescribed for high blood pressure or depression) and consume alcohol or coffee — is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Mouth rinses that contain alcohol can also “dry up the mouth and make the breath smell worse”, said Dr Katz. Older people and people who talk a lot — teachers and gossipmongers, remember to stock up on mints — or who are under stress are also at a higher risk of developing a dry mouth.
Dr Katz explained that saliva contains a healthy dose of oxygen, which helps to cleanse anaerobic bacteria. Such bacteria — found beneath the tongue, in the throat and often in the tonsils — thrive in environments without oxygen to produce lousy-smelling sulphur-producing compounds in the breath.
“If you have plenty of saliva, you are less likely to have bad breath because the oxygen in it inhibits an ‘anaerobic’ environment. That’s probably why babies almost never have bad breath — because they are always drooling,” he said.
Dr Koh Chu Guan, a consultant periodontist at the National Dental Centre of Singapore, added that persistent bad breath is also one of the signs of gum, or periodontal, disease. He estimated that about 20 per cent of Singaporeans suffer from severe gum disease.
“The bad breath is usually worse if there are abscesses (boils in the gum) and widespread infection in the mouth,” he added.
Although there are no official statistics to show the number of patients with periodontal disease who suffer from bad breath, Dr Koh said most of his patients have some degree of halitosis before treatment.
“Although not many of my patients specifically complain of having bad breath, a few do get very bothered by it. They might tend to speak with others less or keep their distance. It is very embarrassing for these people,” he said. For these patients, the problem of bad breath is usually resolved with control of their periodontal problem.
And as most people would know, you are what you eat. Certain foods, such as dense protein foods and foods such as garlic and onions that have odorous sulphur compounds, are notorious in making your breath smell bad.
“Food like garlic and onions, when absorbed into the blood stream, are transferred to the lungs where their odour is expelled,” Dr Koh said. “The odour will disappear when the body metabolises the food.”
Other conditions that can trigger bad breath include oral infections (perhaps due to impacted wisdom teeth), dental cavities, flu and other upper respiratory tract infections, post-nasal drip (excess mucus) and tonsillitis.
So, what can be done to nip that foul-smelling breath in the bud?
To prevent a dry mouth, Dr Katz suggested drinking at least six glasses of water daily. Saliva-stimulating foods such as watermelon and celery may also help.
Also, don’t skip breakfast. On why some people turn up at work in the morning with a foul breath, Dr Katz said: “Without breakfast, there is nothing to stimulate saliva in the morning.”
While cleaning the mouth effectively — via flossing, using a non-alcohol-based mouth rinse and brushing the tongue, especially the deeper part — may help in controlling bad breath, Dr Koh said it is important to seek professional advice.
“Your dentist could find the possible contributing factors to the problem and help eliminate them. If your dentist cannot find a dental cause, there could be a medical cause. You will need to see a doctor to confirm this,” said Dr Koh.
---
DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE BAD BREATH? HERE’S HOW YOU CAN FIND OUT
Lick the back of your hand. Let that dry for about 10 seconds and then smell your skin. If you notice an odour, you have the dreaded bad breath.
“What you’re doing is to transfer the bacteria from your tongue to another source. When the saliva evaporates, you can smell the sulphur salts,” said Dr Katz.
The “degree” of your bad breath can also be measured by using a breath analyser, which can measure the amount of sulphides present in the breath. The higher the amount of sulphides, the more foul-smelling your breath is.
Breath analysers are available at the National University Hospital’s preventive dentistry department, White Dental Group and The Smile Division Dental Surgeons @ Orchard.
Take Your Bad Breath Away
By Eveline Gan, in collaboration with Health Promotion Board, Singapore
- You can get rid of it byhaving breakfast, drinkinglots of water and eating right
YOU gargle some mouthwash on your way to a hot date, thinking that it will freshen up your breath.
But barely halfway through the rendezvous, your mouth starts to feel dry and that offensive breath you were trying to mask returns at full force, wilting the flowers your date has given you.
If the above scenario sounds familiar to you, you are not alone.
According to American dentist Harold Katz, up to a third of the world’s population suffers from chronic bad breath, or halitosis. Many also have this embarrassing condition from time to time.
Dr Katz, the founder of the Thera-Breath System and The California Breath Clinics in the United States, was in town last week to speak about halitosis at a public education seminar.
A dry mouth — which can occur if you smoke, take certain medication (usually prescribed for high blood pressure or depression) and consume alcohol or coffee — is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Mouth rinses that contain alcohol can also “dry up the mouth and make the breath smell worse”, said Dr Katz. Older people and people who talk a lot — teachers and gossipmongers, remember to stock up on mints — or who are under stress are also at a higher risk of developing a dry mouth.
Dr Katz explained that saliva contains a healthy dose of oxygen, which helps to cleanse anaerobic bacteria. Such bacteria — found beneath the tongue, in the throat and often in the tonsils — thrive in environments without oxygen to produce lousy-smelling sulphur-producing compounds in the breath.
“If you have plenty of saliva, you are less likely to have bad breath because the oxygen in it inhibits an ‘anaerobic’ environment. That’s probably why babies almost never have bad breath — because they are always drooling,” he said.
Dr Koh Chu Guan, a consultant periodontist at the National Dental Centre of Singapore, added that persistent bad breath is also one of the signs of gum, or periodontal, disease. He estimated that about 20 per cent of Singaporeans suffer from severe gum disease.
“The bad breath is usually worse if there are abscesses (boils in the gum) and widespread infection in the mouth,” he added.
Although there are no official statistics to show the number of patients with periodontal disease who suffer from bad breath, Dr Koh said most of his patients have some degree of halitosis before treatment.
“Although not many of my patients specifically complain of having bad breath, a few do get very bothered by it. They might tend to speak with others less or keep their distance. It is very embarrassing for these people,” he said. For these patients, the problem of bad breath is usually resolved with control of their periodontal problem.
And as most people would know, you are what you eat. Certain foods, such as dense protein foods and foods such as garlic and onions that have odorous sulphur compounds, are notorious in making your breath smell bad.
“Food like garlic and onions, when absorbed into the blood stream, are transferred to the lungs where their odour is expelled,” Dr Koh said. “The odour will disappear when the body metabolises the food.”
Other conditions that can trigger bad breath include oral infections (perhaps due to impacted wisdom teeth), dental cavities, flu and other upper respiratory tract infections, post-nasal drip (excess mucus) and tonsillitis.
So, what can be done to nip that foul-smelling breath in the bud?
To prevent a dry mouth, Dr Katz suggested drinking at least six glasses of water daily. Saliva-stimulating foods such as watermelon and celery may also help.
Also, don’t skip breakfast. On why some people turn up at work in the morning with a foul breath, Dr Katz said: “Without breakfast, there is nothing to stimulate saliva in the morning.”
While cleaning the mouth effectively — via flossing, using a non-alcohol-based mouth rinse and brushing the tongue, especially the deeper part — may help in controlling bad breath, Dr Koh said it is important to seek professional advice.
“Your dentist could find the possible contributing factors to the problem and help eliminate them. If your dentist cannot find a dental cause, there could be a medical cause. You will need to see a doctor to confirm this,” said Dr Koh.
---
DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE BAD BREATH? HERE’S HOW YOU CAN FIND OUT
Lick the back of your hand. Let that dry for about 10 seconds and then smell your skin. If you notice an odour, you have the dreaded bad breath.
“What you’re doing is to transfer the bacteria from your tongue to another source. When the saliva evaporates, you can smell the sulphur salts,” said Dr Katz.
The “degree” of your bad breath can also be measured by using a breath analyser, which can measure the amount of sulphides present in the breath. The higher the amount of sulphides, the more foul-smelling your breath is.
Breath analysers are available at the National University Hospital’s preventive dentistry department, White Dental Group and The Smile Division Dental Surgeons @ Orchard.
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