I found a post on a site called: “The Hindu” It was entitled, “Proper Dental Hygiene Usually Gets Rid of Bad Breath”.
I do take issue with the article. I think that whoever wrote it tried to construct a conclusion that may not be accurate and could lead to some damaging conclusions as well as a poor state of mind for victims of halitosis.
What I think is odd about the article is that there are little one sentence quotes like this one:
““In my examinations, the causes have been in the oral cavity 86 per cent of the time,” said Sigrid Weigel, a Berlin—based dentist who offers consultation on bad breath.” full article
The author of the article goes on to construct, what appears to be, his own conclusion.
What Dr. Wiegel says may actually be true, but the rest of the article seems a bit strange to me.
If conquering bad breath was ONLY about better dental hygiene there would not be so many people affected by it.
This is similar to the many misconceptions about gum disease. It is a big problem and many people have no idea that it affects / includes them. Many think that if they brush and floss they are safe from this problem. This is simply not true. If it were true, then it would be unreasonable that 75% of the population suffers from some form of gum disease.
Most dental professionals agree with that 75% figure. You can ask any dentist or hygienist and they will, generally speaking, confirm this point.
Article titles like the one quoted above from The Hindu, may actually be damaging to people who are truly suffering from bad breath. It reinforces the [false] idea that it is 100% their fault, 100% of the time.
We do not always control the oral bacteria that we inherit from our parents or care taker when we are babies.
Having said that, there are certainly things that can be done to control or mitigate bad breath. Some solutions are better than others.
What products we use makes a difference. These starter kits contain the ‘right’ ingredients in my view. (Disclaimer, that link goes to my ecommerce store).
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One item the author of that article is clearly unaware of is tonsil stones. If you have them and they are the source of bad breath, the best dental hygiene practices in the world are not going to help get rid of that smell until the stones are removed.
What is the moral of this story? Please do not fall into the trap of thinking that proper dental hygiene is the only viable solution to getting rid of bad breath. Sometimes there is more to the story. Implying otherwise, could lead to a number of problems for the victim of bad breath.
There is a free book about getting rid of bad breath. Click here for it.
* This post speaks in general. For specific questions about your own unique dental health situation, please ask your doctor or dentist for those answers.