r/badbreath

I have had chronic bad breath all my life. No matter how much I brushed my teeth or cleaned my tongue (2 times a day), no matter how many mints I ate or how much water I drank, it was always there.

It turns out my bad breath was caused by a mix of the below three:

1. Acid Reflux - I started chewing my food properly, taking fennel seeds after every meal, rinsing my mouth after each meal, and taking 5-10 deep breaths after every meal. Also included more probiotics daily.

2. Sinus Issues - I've had nasal congestion since I was a child, and post nasal drip. Turns out the Acid Reflux was what was causing the drip. I also started taking a drink with ground turmeric, black pepper, and lime every morning, which helped a lot.

3. Dry Mouth - A dry mouth can lead to less saliva, so food particles and odor stay in your mouth (saliva is a natural mouth cleanser). My dry mouth was caused by mouth breathing. I used to find myself breathing through my mouth during the day and at night. Also started drinking a lot of water!

If you keep your oral hygiene in check but the bad breath keeps coming back, hope this helps! The solution may be completely different than just "cleaning your tongue" or "brushing twice a day."

They're important, but may not be the actual reason.

I’ve been struggling with bad breath for the past few years. I have decent-good oral hygiene but I have symptoms like thick saliva in the back of my mouth and throat, dry mouth, a bad odor in my nose when I wake up, and constant post nasal drip.

I have no idea what is going on and I’ve tried so many things but I recently requested a referral to an allergist so I could rule out allergies. I was also prescribed something for the chance it might be silent reflux but I haven’t taken it yet.

My boss had bad breath. I also have. His got cured. Happy for him. Mine is still work in progress. The real thing to do is find root cause - gut issues, thyroid, diabetes, oral microbiome etc.

I had severe candida and sibo six months ago. My recent GI map says that candida is under control but now I have H Pylori so treating that. Spending a lot of money but in the last six months, things have gotten way way better for me.

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel. Just eat right and exercise. And please find the root cause and deal with it with experts. My DMs are always open for anybody. Especially if you’re from India!!!

I always try to be nice to others and always take the wrong on my side. And when my friends talk to each other. They sounds like I am the main problem even though I did not even say anything. One person said that they disappointed at me for not saying anything, and then one who did not know the story was also blaming me for making that other person feel bad. Honestly, when I said something, they started blaming me as the one who is causing problem. And when I shut up, I am also the problem. Honestly, am I the problem for existing?
Please, tell me if I am the problem for not protecting myself from them. When I heard what they said I’m no longer depressed and cried like before. I just shut up and accepted let it slide. One even said good luck working with me to others. As if, my work is nothing. Honestly, how excellent you are. Please at least have some respect for others. If they are so much better than me. Lesson learnt: be blunt. Share your opinion, even if it is wrong.

I spent the whole day at home so I searched and picked out any tonsil stone I could find. And I barely found any.

I did all cleaning I could and this evening, the first person I spoke to just poked the nose in disgust.

I'm cooked so bad and it sucks when the realization hit me.

I've never even experience closeness with a female before due to this.

Tell me what I can try. Like simple remedies that can at least give me few hours of free life.

Please try to help me

Last night, I’ll admit it, I probably shouldn’t have, but I ate sun-dried tomatoes with garlic and salt. Today, I brushed my teeth very carefully, flossed (which was actually especially useful, considering how much I found on the floss), did a loooonng coconut oil mouth rinse, and also used a copper tongue scraper.

Even so, I still have this warm, stale feeling in my mouth that I absolutely hate. I also did the corner test, in case you’re familiar with it. Basically, you go to the corner of a wall and breathe or talk into it, so the air lingers there long enough for you to smell it.

Then I did another little test. I went to a hardware store and talked to the salesperson and I noticed that he actually took a step back while we were talking. That makes me think my intuition was right.

I’m honestly so tired of having to be careful about everything I eat. I just don’t understand how there seems to be no way to get rid of these smells once they’ve somehow gotten into my body. It’s honestly crazy.

NB : I’ve also noticed something about the way certain people smell, especially people who consume a lot of dairy. I’ve become pretty good at recognizing it because when I eat something like pancakes and then floss, I sometimes notice exactly that same smell on the floss — the distinctive smell of someone who drinks milk regularly or eats a lot of dairy. It’s surprisingly recognizable once you’ve noticed it.

Hi guys

Been a sufferer since I can remember no joke but 7/8 years old. Pushing towards 15+years, you try fix your issues in all types of ways; Doctors, supplements, time & money.

Long story short. Pay attention.

Stop talking & thinking about it all the time. Keep hydrated, eat fruits, eat clean, go outside, get sun, go to events, stop putting a pause to life.

You learn to deal with it. Yes, it’s hard sometimes. Close proximity you might have to be silent but you learn your body & what to do & when not to do it.

Live your damn life. Take your precautions (mints,water,carrots,fruits) & just live your damn life.

I’ve come to terms with it & yes it sucks, I do think we’ll all be okay. Some things you have to sacrifice but that’s life, we could be worse off.

Be busy, stop sitting inside all day. It’ll make this condition worse off. I’ve been in a better place since I stopped checking this subreddit everyday & looking for a damn cure all day, everyday.

You can go on dates, see friends, pretty much do anything. Just manage urself & learn ur mouth & body.

Hey, so I am asking for help regarding a very sensitive and embarrassing topic, namely that of my boyfriend's bad breath. I'm 24 and he's 26 and we have been together for almost 2 years now.

It's a difficult topic because intimacy obviously makes part of any relationship, as does kissing and other things involving our mouth. I think I am good at hiding the fact that I don't notice it (I try my best not to make him feel bad or self-conscious), but I can obviously see how self-conscious he is about it since he always drinks water and always carries chewing gum with him, more than other people I typically hang around with do.

Thing is, he does take care of his oral hygiene. He always brushes his teeth for longer than me and usually with better technique (as opposed to myself who just brushes agressively and have never had issues with bad breath), he flosses daily, scrapes his tongue, hydrates himself with water, eats healthy and works out, doesn't smoke and never drinks. It seems by all accounts that he should have odorless breath. So why is it the opposite? He visits the dentist regularily and I can't really notice any visible plaque or tartar on his teeth. The only things I notice at times are his gums which look a little inflammed (nothing too bad), and two of his front teeth where the gums are slightly receeded. Besides that I think his mouth looks fine... well, and his tongue is also slightly whitish at times.

So here I am, trying to ask you guys for help since under normal circumstances and accounting for all the steps he routinely takes, he should not have bad breath, yet he does. It's a little difficult at times for me not to get disracted by it when I'm trying to be intimate with him. Again, I'm not trying to shame him since I don't think it's his fault. I personally don't pay much attention to my oral hygiene besides the basic stuff and never have had bad breath myself.

How can I help him? Is it genetic? Where should he look for help?

Thank you to whoever may read this and give me some guidance.

My left nostril is super dry and smells like skunk .I can't come close to anybody ,smell is beyond awful. No doctor or specialist can help me ,(I don't have any sinus pressure or pain.) Nobody heard about the case like mine .I really want to die ,

I sort of wish I never noticed this condition and just continued living how I was living before finding out.

I’m disgustingly self aware to the point I can’t have a good time or relax ever because it’s constantly on my mind from when I wake up to when I sleep.

What makes this horrific is the fact that it can be smelt from meters away. How is that scientifically possible? I’ve never smelt others breath from meters away so why mine?!

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s coming from multiple different sources such as throat, nose, tongue, stomach and gums?

Anyway this is honestly exhausting trying to get to the bottom of this. It’s been 5 years. Spent lots on dentists, don’t drink or smoke (anymore) , brush twice and floss etc

I have bad breath, it started about 5 months ago one day I randomly started to see people turn their noses up and I suspected I had bad breath. I received cleanings, my oral health is pretty good overall. I tested for H pylori, received treatment smell still persisted. I tested for H2s sibo test was under the 3.0 threshold. Went to the ENT stated I didn’t have any issues that would render bad breath. But I did have post nasal drip. My tongue was white after taking antibiotics but I took Metrodazole and the tongue is much pinker but the smell still persisted.

Can anyone help me? I’m a teacher and this is really taking a hit at my confidence. I can’t smell the issue but apparently others can and it could be room filling.

I check my tonsils, I never see any tonsil stones so I’m not sure what it could be.

For those of us with long-term chronic halitosis, it seems like there isn’t currently any treatment that provides a solution. I’ve tried essentially every commonly suggested approach, specialists, tests, tonsillectomy, dental/periodontal evaluation, different mouthwashes, tongue cleaning, supplements, and other protocols, without finding anything that actually works.

At this point, I’m not really looking for another mouthwash, supplement, or routine to try. I’ve tried so many things already, and I’m honestly not willing to keep spending money on treatments when there’s no reason to believe they’ll work.

Does anyone know of potential treatments currently being researched that could actually address the underlying cause of chronic halitosis and potentially provide a cure?

Is this something we just have to live with forever?

I am victim too!

I try brushing my teeth every day, brushing my tongue flossing my teeth. I’ve been to the dentist multiple times. I don’t know what else to do when I talk to women they immediately go away from me because of my breath. I need to fix it immediately I use lots of mouthwash. I think the toothpaste I use is crust. I need your help figuring this out please. I eat a ton of junk food. Could that be affecting my breath?

The postnasal drip is finally starting to get under control. I’m on a PPI for now, and I also cut out mouthwash. Instead, I’ve been doing baking soda and saltwater rinses, and I switched my toothpaste from a minty flavor to a lemon and lavender flavor.

Honestly, starting the PPI and cutting out mouthwash has made a huge difference for me. I still wake up with some morning breath, but I can tell there’s a major improvement in my overall breath. I also no longer wake up with a white tongue, which is something I noticed after making those two small changes.

I really feel like if I cleaned up my diet a little more, it could help even further. That part is just going to be harder for me to commit to because I really love food 😂. But I’m realizing I don’t necessarily have to change everything overnight I can just start making better choices little by little.

Quick edit: I also stopped wearing fragrance it definitely made me smell worse ..