As a Local Dentist, We Can Treat Your Bad Breath

In our local dentist office, we can help your breath to smell fresh.  In fact, we recommend that you have your teeth cleaned twice a year so that we can remove plaque and bacteria from in between your teeth and  in hard to reach places. This serves multiple purposes.  It allows us to prevent cavities and gum disease from forming and also helps us to prevent your breath from smelling.  After all, when food and plaque become trapped, they can start to emit a foul smelling odor that can create your bad breath.

The first thing you should do if your breath smells is to examine your habits.  Are you brushing your teeth enough?  Flossing like you should?  What are you eating on a regular basis?  The answer to these questions will provide you with some insight.  You should be brushing your teeth two to three times a day with a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.  You should also be flossing a minimum of once a day.  If your breath still smells bad after this, you can try adding a tongue scraper and antiseptic mouthwash to your daily hygiene routine.  This, in combination with avoiding stinky foods like garlic and drinking more water, can typically make your breath smell fresher.  If you are doing everything right and your breath still smells, it is likely your health that is the problem.

When you have a tooth infection, for example, it can emit a foul-smelling odor.  This is the body's natural way of warning you that there is a problem requiring treatment.  If your breath smells bad on a regular basis, or is progressively smelling worse, we recommend that you schedule a dental exam so that we can see if you have a tooth infection or tooth decay (cavities).  As your dentist, we can remove the infection or decayed area and restore the tooth to optimum health.  As we do so, your breath will naturally start to smell better.  This early detection can also help to prevent discomfort or the spread of the infection. 
 
We will also examine your gums when you visit our dentist office.  If you have gum disease, it can make your breath smell and treating the condition early is important for your oral health.  Gum disease typically starts as plaque and tartar become trapped underneath your gums, leading to irritation.  In the early stage, this will make your gums swell, become red and even bleed when you brush your teeth.  While irritating, this stage of gum disease doesn't cause serious discomfort or pose a major health risk.  When it advances, however, the disease can create major health challenges.  Gums can start to recede, forming pockets in the gum tissue where plaque and bacteria tend to gather.  As the tooth structure and roots are exposed, they are susceptible to attack.  Very often bone loss and tooth loss occur, as a result.  By removing the plaque and tartar that is causing the disease, we can help to restore the gums to good health.  If they have already started to recede, we may need to perform a gum graft but, in either case, once the gums are healthy, your breath should start to smell better.