The Bacterial Origins of Bad Breath

When you realize that your breath smells worse than the garbage can in your kitchen, it’s a humbling experience. Bad breath is one of the most common oral health problems in the world. Virtually everyone has some experience with it; smelly breath has no respect for age or social status. Even if you try your best to keep your mouth clean, circumstances you can’t control can result in halitosis that renders you silent in social situations. When facing such a stubborn adversary, it helps to know exactly what is causing that noxious smell.

Bacteria and Halitosis: How Breath Odor Happens

One of the more specific causes of bad breath odor involves the waste materials produced by bacteria in the mouth, stomach or nose that comes into contact with air. Research has revealed that several types of bacteria and their waste products associated with other disgusting smells are also present in human breath odors. They include:

• Hydrogen sulfide, the source of the rotten-egg smell
• Isovaleric acid, the distinctive odor of smelly feet
• Putrescine, which is to blame for the noxious smell of decaying meat
• The combination of oxygen, sulfur compounds, and nitrogen gases like cadaverine that together are responsible for the odor of corpses
• Skatole and mercaptan, substances present in feces odor

Other Causes of Bad Breath

Following are additional potential causes of bad breath:

• Foods and beverages such as onions, garlic, cabbage, curry, coffee, and diet soda
• Inadequate fluid intake
• Smoking or tobacco use
• Improper dental hygiene
• Medications such as vitamin supplements, psychiatric drugs, calcium channel blockers, antihistamines, and any substances that decrease saliva production
• Health conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, sinus infection, throat or lung problems, post-nasal drip, dry mouth, and gastrointestinal disease
• A high-protein diet
• Corrective mouth appliances like dentures and braces
• Decayed teeth, dental abscesses, and gum disease

In light of such unpleasant revelations, the importance of good mouth hygiene and regular dental appointments seems even more urgent.

To get the dental care you deserve from an affordable dentist in South Bend, call The Dental Center of Indiana today or make an appointment.