Halitosis is an oral health condition characterized by consistently odorous breath. Often identifying the cause of bad breath is the first step toward treating this preventable condition.

The things you eat contribute largely to your oral health care, including your breath. Items such as garlic and onions, or any food, are absorbed into the bloodstream, become transferred into the lungs, and become expelled in the air you breathe. Until that food becomes eliminated by the body, the potential for it affecting a person’s breath is present.

Without proper and consistent brushing and flossing, and routine examinations by your dentist, food remains in the mouth, which is a breeding ground for bacteria, which, in turn, causes odorous breath. Food that is allowed to collect on the teeth, gums, and tongue may cause the gums to rot, which causes an unpleasant odor and taste in the mouth.

Halitosis may be normal or physiologic. This would be typically seen in so called “morning breath” which results from enzymatic breakdown of cellular proteins and amino acids. Other physiologic origins of halitosis include hunger, dehydration, or it may be related to the ingestion of certain foods.

Oral conditions associated with halitosis can usually be determined by careful oral examination. Common conditions include dental caries (cavities), other dental or gingival conditions, or simply poor dental hygiene.

Halitosis may be related to odors which are excreted in expired air from the lungs. The foul breath associated with intake of garlic is actually a result of excretion via expired air from the lungs. Certain medications also release odors into expired breath from the lungs. All of these ingested substances are metabolized usually in the liver with breakdown products traveling in the blood stream where they eventually reach the lung tissues where a gas exchange occurs.

Good oral hygiene is the best treatment for bad breath because it removes the plaque that causes the disorder. The teeth should be brushed at least twice daily and flossed gently at least once per day. For people who are prone to gingivitis, brushing and flossing may be recommended after every meal and at bedtime.