As much as possible, I do my best to avoid having bad breath. Having it is very awful. It will brings us down. It affects us in communicating with people. There are some facts that we do not really know what causes it.

Many fad diets cause “hunger breath”, due to not eating any carbohydrates. When the body starts to break down fats, the resultant release of ketones causes bad breath. Try drinking pure orange juice at mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and eat a slice of bread at lunch, to ensure you consume sufficient carbohydrates.

Tongues that have a long central groove or large papillae are more susceptible to bad breath, as they tend to trap more bacteria and mouth compounds.

If you produce a lot of nasal mucus, you are also more susceptible.

Hormones control the concentration of saliva. When saliva is thicker, this causes bad breath. Some women notice breath changes related to their menstrual cycle.

Personally, I am very conscious of my breath. There were times that I can’t avoid to have a bad breath. It made me want not to talk to everyone. I don’t want to offense people that I talk to. As a health worker, I should be a good model for good dental hygiene. I am doing my best though to always have fresh breath. Before we can do the things about it, we should know what are the cause of it.

The long-term cause of bad breath tends to be poor dental hygiene, which causes gum disease. If this is the case, your dentist can scale your teeth, suggest a mouth wash, or prescribe antibiotics if you have an infection.

Brush your tongue when brushing your teeth to scrape away bacteria.

Air conditioning in cars, workplace and public buildings make us prone to dehydration, which leads to reduced saliva flow and more concentrated saliva. You need to increase your fluid intake to compensate for this.

Any condition that makes you breathe through your mouth instead of your nose can cause your saliva to dry up, and so lead to bad breath.

The increase in oestrogen during menstruation also affects mouth odour.

The homeopathic remedy Kali Phos may also help bad breath.