What Can I Do About My Chronic Bad Breath?

Do you find yourself constantly reaching for breath mints to fight bad breath? Approximately 30% of Americans complain about this problem. If you too, have issues day after day, it’s time to get to the bottom of the problem.

Our team at Gulf Coast Periodontics & Implants knows bad breath can cause embarrassment. However, we also understand it can have a potentially serious underlying cause: periodontal disease.

Do you have chronic bad breath? Here are a few possible causes and how we can help.

Getting to the source of bad breath

The first step in fighting bad breath involves evaluating your oral hygiene habits. That’s because most bad breath starts in your mouth, specifically when bacteria and food particles build up on your teeth, gums, and tongue. 

In many cases, chronic bad breath indicates three specific mouth problems: poor oral hygiene, dry mouth, and gum disease, including gingivitis and periodontitis. Each of these conditions can lead to bad breath because of increased bacterial levels in your mouth, which cause a foul odor.

Additional causes of chronic bad breath include:

• Eating certain foods, such as garlic and onions
• Smoking or using oral tobacco products
• Oral infections from surgical wounds, sores, or decay
• Certain medications
• Infections or chronic inflammation of the nose, throat, or sinuses
• Some health conditions, such as chronic acid reflux, diabetes, and cancers

We can often get to the bottom of your chronic bad breath by performing a dental exam and reviewing your personal history. Once we reach a diagnosis, we can outline a personalized treatment strategy.

Treating chronic bad breath

If we determine your chronic bad breath is due to poor oral health, gum disease, or excessive plaque buildup, the first step involves addressing those issues.

To start, we perform a professional cleaning to remove bacteria, tartar, and plaque buildup on the teeth and below the gum line. In the earliest stages of periodontal disease, known as gingivitis, this can often address the issue. 

For more severe forms of gum disease, such as periodontitis, you may need more extensive treatment, such as scaling and root planing. In these cases, we often recommend the LANAP® procedure.

With this treatment, we use a state-of-the-art laser to remove the diseased tissue. This procedure cleans your mouth and creates an optimal environment for your gums to reattach, and it triggers gum tissue regrowth at the same time.

After treating your dental issue, we offer personalized guidance and periodontal maintenance, so you can keep your mouth clean and healthy — and bad breath at bay indefinitely. 

Avoiding chronic bad breath

As we mentioned, the best thing you can do to avoid bad breath involves practicing good oral hygiene. So you should make sure to brush and floss at least twice a day. 

Other ways to avoid bad breath include:

• Brushing your cheeks, the roof of your mouth, and tongue
• Cleaning removable dentures properly
• Keeping your saliva flowing by drinking plenty of water, eating healthy foods, and chewing sugar-free gum
• Not using tobacco products

Finally, don’t forget to schedule regular dental visits to keep your mouth smelling, feeling, and looking its best. These visits allow us to remove any bacteria you miss on a daily basis and spot potential problems, such as infections, gum disease, and dry mouth, in the earliest stages.

Do you have chronic bad breath? Instead of turning to breath mints, get to the source of the problem by calling 228-868-9615 or requesting an appointment online with Gulf Coast Periodontics & Implants today.