DRY MOUTH AND
BAD BREATH

Bad Breath Can Be a Pain

From cupped-palm breath checks to a lick of your own wrist, we all have a method to check for bad breath. Unfortunately, they rarely work and most of us walk around with the fear we have a foul smell coming out of our mouth. Bad breath can vary in odor and treatment depending on the underlying cause. Quick tip: your bad breath isn’t always your foods’ fault! Onion and garlic are the usual suspects, often taking the fall but they’re not always to blame. In fact, your bad breath may have nothing to do with your diet at all. Let’s look at some of the most common causes to determine if any of these are at the core of your bad breath.

Common causes of bad breath:

• Use of tobacco products
• Poor dental hygiene
• Medications
• Infections in your mouth
• Other mouth, nose, or throat conditions
• Chronic reflux of stomach acids
• Diet
• Dry Mouth

A common but not so well-known cause of bad breath

Dry Mouth and bad breath can be directly related to one another. Here’s something you may not have known, Dry Mouth is a condition, affecting roughly 1 in 4 adults. Many people suffer from Dry Mouth without even knowing it, often using things like water, chewing gum, or hard candies to help provide short term relief.

If left untreated Dry Mouth can lead to oral health problems, since saliva works to moisten the mouth, neutralize acids produced by plaque, and wash away bacteria and food particles from your mouth. If not removed, these particles and bacteria can lead to bad breath. While bad breath is embarrassing and a dry mouth is uncomfortable, the health implications long-term can be much more detrimental as it could potentially ruin your teeth and gums. This is far too often the reality for Canadians who are unaware that Dry Mouth is even a condition in the first place, in turn, treating only their bad breath without addressing the underlying issue.

How to help freshen bad breath from Dry Mouth

While mints, candies, or breath strips may mask your bad breath, they are short-term solutions—the sugars in those products can actually contribute to tooth decay. Mouthwash is a common go-to for bad breath, however, many are alcohol based and can dry out your mouth further. If you find yourself repeatedly searching for relief of bad breath, you may want to investigate if Dry Mouth is at the root of the issue. One of the most common causes of Dry Mouth is use of one or more medications. If you’re one of the 3.5 million Canadians who take two or more medications, you could be at risk of bad breath caused by Dry Mouth.

Some common causes of Dry Mouth can include:

• Mouth Breathing
• Diabetes
• Caffeine
• Smoking
• Medical Marijuana use
• Alcohol
• Age
• Medication use
• Cancer treatments

When trying to discover how to help get rid of bad breath, consider Biotène’s mouth moisturizing system. It can provide immediate and long-lasting relief for Dry Mouth. So, before you pass on your favourite sausage and pepper sub for fear of the less-than-aromatic aftermath, consider taking a deeper look into the cause of your bad breath.

If you discover that Dry Mouth is at the heart of your bad breath, speak to your healthcare provider to see if Biotène is the right solution for you.