Natural Ways to Overcome Mouth Smell

Bad breath is very annoying and often erodes self-confidence, especially when speaking in front of other people. But do not worry, there are several ways you can do to deal with bad breath naturally.

Bad breath, or in medical terms called halitosis, is a condition that can be experienced by anyone. It's rare to brush your teeth or keep your teeth and mouth clean are the most common causes of bad breath.

Causes of mouth odor
Not routinely brushing your teeth every day will make leftover pieces of food left in your mouth. Bacteria will grow on these debris, then remove unpleasant odors that cause bad breath.

If it continues to be left, the bacteria that cause bad breath will multiply more and more, until eventually forming dental plaque. When that happens, the smell that appears can be more severe. Therefore, routine cleaning of teeth is very important to maintain healthy teeth and prevent bad breath.

Apart from being rarely brushed teeth, lack of saliva due to dry mouth can also cause bad breath. Because, saliva acts to clean food debris and foreign objects in the mouth. Bad breath due to dry mouth usually occurs when we just wake up, especially if previously sleeping with the mouth open.

In addition, it is possible that the bad breath you experience is caused by the following factors:

• Smoking or consuming alcoholic beverages.
• Eating pungent foods, such as onions and petai.
• There is infection or inflammation of the nose, sinus cavity, mouth, or throat, for example in gum disease, sinusitis, and tonsillitis infections.
• Suffering from stomach acid, kidney or liver disorders, and oral cancer.

Overcoming Mouth Smell with Natural Ingredients
To deal with bad breath, you should be diligent in brushing your teeth and using dental floss to clean up leftover food that causes bad breath. In addition, because bad breath can also be caused by a dry mouth, you are encouraged to drink enough water, which is at least 8 glasses per day.

Besides brushing your teeth and drinking enough water, you can use the following natural ingredients to deal with bad breath:

1. Milk
When you eat pungent foods, such as garlic or onion, drink milk afterwards. Research has proven that milk has an ingredient that can eliminate bad breath due to eating pungent foods.

In addition to milk, processed dairy products in the form of yogurt can also help eliminate bad breath. This is because yogurt contains probiotics which can help reduce the number of bacteria that cause bad breath.

2. Orange
Besides having a refreshing taste, oranges are also rich in vitamin C, which functions to increase saliva production. With increasing saliva, many bacteria that cause bad breath will be removed from the mouth. There is also research that states that vitamin C is useful for preventing inflammation of the gums and canker sores.

3. Green tea
Green tea or green tea has long been known to contain antibacterial and antioxidant substances, and has been shown to reduce inflammation. The good news, green tea is also effective in eliminating bad breath.

To enrich the taste of green tea, try adding mint leaves to it. As with green tea, mint leaves are believed to be effective against bad breath.

4. Betel leaves
This plant is often used as an herbal medicine, and traditionally, betel leaf is widely used by chewing. According to some studies, betel leaf has an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect that can help maintain healthy teeth and mouth. This effect is also good for dealing with bad breath.

5. Sweet root
Sweet root or licorice is a herbal remedy commonly used to treat itching, skin inflammation, and heartburn. In addition, sweet root also contains antibacterial compounds which are believed to eliminate bad breath, relieve thrush, and prevent tooth and gum damage.

You can find liquorice extract on various herbal medicinal products, both in gel preparations, suction tablets, or mouthwash. Although this material has long been used in traditional medicine, further research is still needed to determine how far the effectiveness of this material is.

6. Leaf saga
A study shows that saga leaves contain antibacterial compounds that are believed to be able to kill bacteria that cause bad breath and tooth and gum damage. In addition, saga leaves are also believed to reduce inflammation of the gums and mouth, so that it can overcome bad breath and canker sores, although further research is still needed.

If bad breath does not disappear after using natural ingredients above, you should consult a dentist to find out the exact cause of bad breath that you experience. After the cause is known, the dentist will help you determine the appropriate treatment.