How to remove bad breath once and for all? The working method suggested the dentist

What to do if you have bad breath? Can you remove it yourself? The answers to these questions were given by the Russian orthopedic dentist, gnatologist Marat Rezyapov, writes sb.by.

- There is one very interesting feature of our body that makes bad breath a particularly uncomfortable topic: a person almost never feels his own smell. That's how our physiology works. So even when you have bad breath, your brain can adapt to your own body’s background odors and just ignore them. Therefore, it is very important to understand whether you smell from your mouth or not, – said the expert.

How do you check if you have this problem?

The easiest way that everyone knows is to breathe out into your palm and smell. But the brain adapts very easily to our body odors. Therefore, it is more reliable to ask someone close to you to smell your breath. It is better to check your breathing two hours after eating. If the person has confirmed that the smell from the mouth really is, then it is important to understand the place where this smell comes from. Often, the source of unpleasant odor is not the open surfaces of the teeth, which you carefully pass with a brush, but the places where the brush does not reach, the dentist noted. About 90 percent of all bad breath odors lie in the interdental spaces and under the gums. It is there in the environment without oxygen live and activate, multiply bacteria. Microscopic food residues and protein secretions decompose, and as a result, foul-smelling substances are released. That is, the smell comes not from the fact that you do not clean well, but from the fact that there are areas that remain unattended. According to my observations, only one in six patients uses dental floss, and only a few know the correct technique of using it.

- There is another source of odour that dentists know about, but do not rush to remove. It happens that once on the contact between the teeth there was caries, but the process stopped and did not destroy the tooth. A stable microscopic cavity is formed. In this case, the tooth looks healthy outwardly, and there is a niche between the teeth, where food remains are constantly clogged, bacteria multiply. This niche is wet and there is a nutrient medium, thanks to which this unpleasant smell appears. And dentists do not touch this place, because in order to remove this reason, you need to drill a healthy layer of enamel on the side surface of the tooth. And if caries has stabilized, does not grow and does not threaten the pulp - the inner part of the tooth, then the doctor often decides not to touch the tooth, because the harm from the sharpening of healthy tissues in this case can outweigh the questionable benefits. And so the source of the smell remains, and the only way to cope with it is regular hygiene of interdental spaces. Every day use dental floss, brushes, irrigation.

The dentist continued:

- Also, one can not exclude another variant of the hidden smell - outdated or improperly installed restorations. Under them, over time, a microscopic cavity inevitably forms. Food remains are clogged there, bacteria continue to multiply. And even if you have perfect hygiene, you use an irrigator and dental floss, but the fillings have overhanging edges, then they are the source of the unpleasant smell. And usually in the area of such unsuccessful restorations, the gums almost always suffer. It is chronically inflamed, begins to bleed, even if you do not see this blood. And the blood, oxidized, mixes with bacteria, which gives a very characteristic and strong smell. So you don't have one problem, you have two, and they fuel each other. Therefore, no matter how much you brush your teeth from above, as long as there is such a hidden defect with an inflamed gum, the smell will always come back. Bleeding often goes unnoticed, as you may simply swallow blood after cleaning or not give it any importance. Of course, one-time bleeding is not a pathology, but here is a systematically pink brush after cleaning, the taste of iron in the mouth or soreness of the gums when pressed - a very serious reason to consult a dentist and remove the cause. Because constant bleeding supports chronic inflammation. It destroys the ligamentous apparatus of the tooth and leads to the appearance of pathological pockets between the tooth and the gum. This can end with paradontitis, loosening and loss of teeth.

- The back third of the tongue barely touches the sky. There comes a minimum of oxygen, there accumulates a dense plaque with a very active rotten microflora. A regular toothbrush is not suitable for this. It smears the plaque, not cleans it. A special scraper is needed for the tongue, and only one application per day gives a noticeable decrease in odor in those whose problem is precisely in the plaque on the tongue.

The doctor suggested how to find out the cause of bad breath yourself:

- Take a regular dental floss and gently walk through all interdental spaces. Smell the thread. If you feel an unpleasant smell, then you can safely say that the source of the unpleasant smell is inflamed gums. If the dental floss broke, then the reason was in the overhanging edge of the restoration, which will inevitably lead to the emergence of hidden caries under the seal or crown. You can either clean the area regularly and make sure there is no sensitivity. If the thread was clean, without any smell, then with a high probability the problem is deeper. Probably in the throat. Look in the mirror at the tonsils. If you see white or yellowish dots, then it is most likely chronic tonsillitis, which means you need to contact an otolaryngologist.

- The algorithm is simple. After the filament test, you will already have a rough idea whether the problem is in the mouth or outside it. Make an appointment with the dentist. If you have long-standing fillings, then come with a specific request to the therapist: check the edge fit, restoration, condition of the gums and periodontal pockets, assess the plaque on the tongue. This is often not done during normal inspection. But if you point this out, the dentist will definitely look. If the dentist, for his part, put everything in order, and the smell remained, then follow the ENT doctor. And only then, if it's clean, to the gastroenterologist. What can be useful for the health of the teeth, so that there is no caries? Told the dentist

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