You could be beautiful and brilliant, but if your breath ain’t right, won’t matter what else you say. Here’s 10 ways to help your talk as sweet as your other…uh…assets.

1. Don’t Forget the Basics

Step one in keeping your breath minty fresh is to follow the steps of basic care and cleaning for your teeth and gums. This includes brushing after meals, flossing daily, and scheduling bi-annual dental appointments to keep cavities and bacteria at bay. Anything from a rotting tooth to an abscess to unclean dentures can turn breath really nasty, and for  more serious dental problems it is extremely important to seek professional treatment.

2. Face the Facts

Do friends constantly complain about your onion breath but you have no idea what they’re talking about? Hate to say it, but you may have bad breath and not even realize it. If you want to really make sure and avoid future embarrassment, use a bad breath meter such as Halimeter or OralChroma. These machines measure the amount of sulfides in your breath by simply breathing into them.The higher the concentration of sulfides, the worse your breath will smell.  While these machines are generally only available at a dentist’s office, there are easy ways of measuring your breath at home (besides cupping your hand and breathing into it!)

-Wipe a piece of gauze on your tongue; if it is has a yellow tinge or smells, you have high levels of sulfides in your body causing the bad breath
-Lick the back of your hand…wait 10 minutes and smell your hand; the sulfur salts (if present) will remain and leave your hand smelling badly
-Floss your back teeth and smell the floss

3. Get Your Fruit Fix

Adding crisp fruits and vegetables to your daily intake, such as carrots and apples, clean your chops naturally by removing plaque and food particles from in-between your teeth and gums. Delicious and refreshing!

4. Mind Your Tongue

Your tongue, especially the top back, is a serious source of halitosis.  Bacteria love to linger on the back of this muscle and it’s a location where food can easily get trapped and rot, causing odor.  What’s a great way to remedy this problem?  Invest in a tongue scraper – it will save you a fortune on gum and mints.

5. Go Herbal

Sipping natural remedies like black and green tea as well as adding cardamom (an exotic Indian spice) to your foods  can alleviate bad breath naturally by zapping fungi that breeds in the mouth.

6. Kiss Atkins Goodbye

Recent research has shown that diets low in carbohydrates can cause funky breath. This is caused by chemicals released from the body burning fats in place of carbs, otherwise known as ketosis. With nowhere to go these foul-smelling chemicals are released through your breath – pretty gross. Slight modifications to your meal plan, including switching out protein calories for carbohydrates if you are on a restricted-calorie diet, can help with this. So next time you’re at dinner, don’t fear the bread bowl!

7. Chew it Over

Chomp on sugarless gum. The increase of saliva in the mouth created by chewing makes an unappealing environment for bacteria. Make sure to check the label and see that it’s sugarless since bacteria in the mouth are apt to ferment sugar, thereby making your icky breathe even worse. While you’re at it you might consider slashing sugar from the rest of your diet as well to freshen your breath.

8. Flush it Out

Avoid an uncomfortable desert-dry mouth as well as offending odors by following this mantra: water, water, water! As long as you stay continually hydrated your mouth will release enzymes through saliva that wipe out bad bacteria.

9. Evaluate Your Medicine Cabinet

If you can’t seem to pinpoint the source of your chronic foul fumes, you might want to search for the source in your medicine cabinet. Certain medicines like blood pressure pills, anti-depressants, and antihistamines contribute to dry mouth, and thus, a toxic taste in your mouth. Ask your doctor for special mouthwashes and toothpastes that help alleviate dry mouth.

10. Get Physical

…and not in the Olivia Newton John sense. If you’ve tried everything else, sometimes the only solution is calling up the doctor for a check-up. Bad breath can sometimes be an underlying symptom of other health problems, including liver problems, reflux diabetes, and sinus infections.

List courtesy of Mitchell Dental Spa
The philosophy of the Mitchell Dental Spa is over-the-top dentistry combined with over-the-top amenities.  Unlike other cosmetic dental offices which only have dental services, the Mitchell Dental Spa is a full-service facility offering dentistry along with massages, facials, and skin rejuvenation. Complimentary 10-15 minute spa treatments are included with every visit and this is offered up along with refreshments, a friendly staff and world-class professional service.