Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with badbreath

Does nosebreath stink?

pseudonick — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:31:20 -0800

If you have bad breath, does exhaling through your nose smell better than exhaling through your mouth? Does it matter if you inhaled through your mouth or your nose? I left the house with bad breath this morning and was wondering if my mitigation strategy until I found some mints was successful. I spent a couple hours very consciously trying to breath through my nose.

I wanna have control..

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:34:44 -0800

Why is my breath so bad? I seem to be doing all of the right things, and yet I have repulsive breath that sometimes even gum won't cover. I think that two permanent retainers are at least partially to blame.

I eat right, exercise, drink more water than suggested, don't smoke, brush well twice daily (with a Sonicare, to boot), floss 1-2x daily, use the best toothpaste, use a tongue scraper, have tried all of the common mouthwashes from Biotene to Listerine, and yet, within minutes of spitting a piece of gum out my mouth tastes terrible.

I haven't always had this problem, but only in the past year or so has it arisen.

Things were fine for a time, but it's beginning to interfere with my day-to-day life, so I need to do something about it.

Note: Male, no medications, healthy weight/build, noticeably white/bright smile

I chew about a pack-a-day of sugarfree gum to cover up the smell, but sometimes it still comes through.

What should I do?

Thanks!

Anon. because my family and friends are really good at following me online ;)

throwaway email at breakthegumaddiction at gmail dot com

Ew, I have bad breath

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:27:35 -0800

How do I fix the problem of bad breath from dry mouth (due to medication)? I am taking Wellbutrin and recently increased my dosage to the max amount. Ever since I did that, I've noticed a metallic taste in my mouth, and I've needed to drink a lot of water. An honest person at work told me that I usually have bad breath. Sometimes pretty bad, sometimes really bad. I did a little research and realized that the bad breath is from the dry mouth which is from the Wellbutrin. Many questions:

1. Is the bad breath caused by something specifically associated with the medicine or dry mouth condition? Like a specific bacteria, or a specific thing that I might be doing, for example?

2. It is very embarassing having someone constantly offering me breath mints, so I'd like to be able to figure out myself if my breath smells so that I can do something about it. So - how can I tell if my breath smells? The whole covering your mouth and nose and sniffing thing does not work, and the metallic taste is not always there when my breath smells, so I can't use that as an indicator.

3. How do I fix this issue or at the very least mask the smell or make it temporarily go away? Is there a specific mouth wash, method of brushing my teeth (I already brush, floss and use a tongue scraper twice a day out of habit), food I should be eating, or something that I should be doing? And how frequently should I do it?

Thank you in advance, you can email me at ewihavebadbreath@gmail.com if you're embarassed about your bad breath too or want to ask me anything.

What is the best mouthwash?

Paul KC — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:01:19 -0800

If gargling hydrogen peroxide will give me cancer, and mouthwash contains alcohol which promotes bad breath, is there anything out that that is actually effective at preventing bad breath and won't kill me? I have been gargling with half water half 3% hydrogen peroxide for a while, but I am troubled by rumors of hydrogen peroxide's cancer causing effects. I have often read that mouthwashes such as Listerine contain alcohol, which dries out the mouth and actually helps bacteria grow.

What do you, fellow MeFites, use in the morning that gives good results and doesn't cause cancer?

Tonsil rocks?

Recockulous — Sat, 21 Feb 2004 10:43:30 -0800

Does anyone ever get little white smelly ball like things in the back of their mouth that either come out after a long time on their own or after intense coughing with your finger pused up against the back of the mouth? Sounds gross I know but I know im not the only person who gets these. I read that they are bacteria and mucus the gets lodged back there and grows. Also people who have had their tonsils removed dont get them. My question is for those who will admit to getting them... how do you deal with them?