Bad breath

[Noah930]

What causes it?

I mean, I know bacteria blah blah blah.

But why do some people--specifically kids--get it and others don't? Newborns and infants might have milky (or formula) mouths, but they don't have real, oh-my-goodness bad breath. The kind that makes you brush your teeth every morning when you wake up. That seems to develop sometime during childhood.

It's not due to having teeth, either. My kids developed teeth before they developed bad breath.

[masraum]

WTF mate?

Maybe you should get them to floss and gargle too.

[stomachmonkey]

Don't know but one of my personal fears. I find few things more repulsive.

It seems to be one of those things that you can't notice about yourself. At least I believe that cause there are some people that'll knock you out from 10 feet away and they seem to be completely unaware.

I practically walk around with a bottle of mouth wash.

Every chance I get I'm hittin the bottle.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Noah930

What causes it?

I mean, I know bacteria blah blah blah.

But why do some people--specifically kids--get it and others don't? Newborns and infants might have milky (or formula) mouths, but they don't have real, oh-my-goodness bad breath. The kind that makes you brush your teeth every morning when you wake up. That seems to develop sometime during childhood.

It's not due to having teeth, either. My kids developed teeth before they developed bad breath.

I could be worse...you could be looking at cooches all day long. I expect more than a few of those have "bad breath"...

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by masraum

WTF mate?

Maybe you should get them to floss and gargle too.

No no. They brush their teeth. They don't walk around with bad breath. But like most people, my kids have morning breath. Rather, my (kindergartener) son has it, but the younger daughter still does not. I'm not saying her morning breath smells like strawberries, but it doesn't make me hold her out at arm's length.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Noah930

No no. They brush their teeth. They don't walk around with bad breath. But like most people, my kids have morning breath. Rather, my (kindergartener) son has it, but the younger daughter still does not. I'm not saying her morning breath smells like strawberries, but it doesn't make me hold her out at arm's length.

Sorry, I thought you were talking about your patients...

[vash]

floss and drink plenty of water.

i wish my parents enforced flossing at an earlier age. i'm pretty religious about it now, but i am sure some damage is done.

i am 87% sure morning breath is caused by a dry mouth..so if you could drink water in your sleep, you would be fresh as a daisy.

[A930Rocket]

Our daughter wakes up with morning breath, but I think it's because her sinuses clog up and she breaths through her mouth at night. Once she brushes and gargles, she good to go.

I knew a guy at work that had the worst breath known to man kind. You couldn't sit next to him, across from him or talk to him, it was so bad. The day he left was a good one.

[crustychief]

I always suspected one of the cats doing its business in the sleeping, open mouths

[Zeke]

Lots of prescription drugs cause BB.

[Moses]

The WORST breath is an old fart with periodontal disease who smokes and drinks coffee. Good God! It's awful.

Good dental hygiene and regular cleanings are important, I think.

[cantdrv55]

Tonsilloliths

Tonsillolith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sammyg2]

Lots O'causes, one is food that gets caught between teeth that you can't get out with floss.
I'm a big fan of these:



Plastic tooth picks with a small stiff brush on one end. Got hooked on em and gotta have em around.

[Embraer]

check your breath.....lick the back of your hand, wave it in the air until it dries, and take a sniff....

[RWebb]

most likely from metabolism working over the night hours; have you checked after a day time nap?

I'd bet money that a real answer could be found on Medline, etc.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Embraer

check your breath.....lick the back of your hand, wave it in the air until it dries, and take a sniff....

wow very odd - it smells like old grease, trans. oil and ...

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by RWebb

wow very odd - it smells like old grease, trans. oil and ...

...might want to wash your hands a little better

[holtjv]

You're an MD, Noah, and asking us?

Anyway, I think tongue scraping helps a lot. I've been scraping every morning for years and get sick less and get fewer complaints about my breath.

Kids get post nasal drip more than adults, I think, which is when my 10 year old has dragon breath.

Nice thing about the Marine Corps; if you have bad breath, the first guy to smell it says, "Holt, your breath stinks."

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Tonsilloliths

Tonsillolith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yep... that's why I just had my tonsills removed. Nasty little things. So glad I'll never have to deal with that again.

[look 171]

My little one has it too. As soon as he brushes and have something to drink, its gone.

I scrape my tongue every now and then. I complain to my dentist, he suggested it. Some days, its really bad, there are lots of stuff on it. Some days are clean. This is around lunch time and I normally do not eat anything in the morning but coffee. I do drink a lot of coffee. A whole pot by lunch. You think diet has a lot to do with it?