…You could have scored that pretty lady you have always had eyes for but your mouth odour won’t let you be great…*sigh*
Picture this: Your colleagues ask you to hang out after work for drinks and catch up. You are sitting at your table sipping your beer bought at half the price because – happy hour is bae! Across the room, you see an old friend and you go over to greet him/her. Unfortunately, just as you lean in to speak, each word they say makes you wince – not from sarcasm – but by the very fact that they speak!
Nothing can put a damper on your chances at success – both romantically and professionally – like a bout of foul mouth stink. Mouth odour will win you no friends; it will put off your partner and make your colleagues give you your space at every given point in time! This is because it is always very difficult to tell someone they have bad breath. Most people would rather offer you a minty sweet or gum.
Look, nobody chooses to have bad breath and no one loves the low self-esteem mouth odour can cause its victims. It could be that you have halitosis and thus, a medical issue. So just what is halitosis exactly? “The medical condition is caused when bacteria break down certain food substances in the mouth, resulting in the formation of foul-smelling gases,” says orthodontist Patrick Grossmann. “The most common cause – as much as 90 per cent – is the collection of bacteria inside the mouth, particularly areas around the gum margins of the teeth and the surface of the tongue.”
Bad breath stinks, but what can you actually do about it? Chew some gum? Suck on a mint? But these are short lasting remedies.
Here are strategies to help you combat bad breath:
1 | Brush and floss at least twice a day – morning and evening at a minimum
2 | Clean your tongue: This point cannot be overemphasized! How can you brush and not even scrub your tongue? Like how?
3 | Keep your mouth well hydrated: Dry mouth leads to a buildup of dead cells and if there is not enough saliva to wash them away, bacteria will feed on them and they will multiply.
4 | Fix your diet: Onions, garlic, curry, cheese, coffee, alcohol, etc have been known to aggravate the issue of bad breath. So watch how you consume these culprits or brush immediately after eating or drinking any one of these.
Once you’ve taken these steps, the bad breath should improve to a great extent and you’ll see your confidence shining through like it never left. However, if you have done all these and your breath is still kicking pretty hard, then it may be high time you go see a dentist as this one has passed ‘be careful’.
Have you ever encountered someone with bad breath before? How did you deal with the situation? Share with us in the comment section below.
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