Bad breath can be the devious ally of low self-esteem. As soon as you catch whiff of your pongy breath there is no turning back. Your conversation partner will likely look at you strangely as you attempt to subtly sniff to see what's up with your mouth. Let's not let it get to that point!

Food and Drinks that Helps Battle Bad Breath

So, what exactly causes bad breath? Well, there are several culprits that could be to blame and so it will take a little self-diagnosis to find out for sure. Some of the main factors include; the build up of plaque, gum disease, smoking, some types of medication and of course, the foods and drinks that your are putting in your mouth. In this article we are going to focus on the foods and drinks that you choose to consume. In most cases, people will tell you what NOT to eat in order to AVOID bad breath. Well, we are going to look from another perspective - what foods and drinks CAN you consume to actually HELP promote fresh breath!

1.Did Someone Say Tea?

When you drink black tea you will be consuming helpful polyphenols. These chemicals can aid your recovery from bad breath woes in more than one way. The first way that black tea can help you is by stunted the growth of bad bacteria that would usually develop into plaque and cause you to have bad breath. The second benefit is the reduction in byproducts created by the bacteria in your mouth. There has also been evidence to support the idea that black tea prevents tooth decay which is the cherry on the cake! But don't get ahead of yourself, too much black tea will result in too much caffeine. If you take in too much caffeine then your mouth can dry out and this can be very detrimental to your breath! So, drink your tea in moderation and it will be a useful tool in the battle against bad breath.

2. Dear Dairy

Acidity in the mouth is most often the cause of your bad breath. If you choose to eat a slice of cheese after your meal then this can actually neutralise some of those acids and thus limit the effects of bad breath post meal. If you aren't a huge fan of cheese then a small helping of unsweetened yoghurt would be the perfect alternative. A study in Japan found that those subjects who ate a serving of yoghurt each day ended up reducing levels of acidity in the mouth, in particularly hydrogen sulfide, one of the compounds that causes halitosis.

3. Beat Bad Breath with a Crunch

Soft and sticky foods are the types of textures that end up getting stuck in your teeth, eventually causing the build up of smelly bacteria. The way to combat this is to eat foods that are crunchy (no, not crunchy chocolate bars!). The foods you should be considering are the fibrous type such as apples and carrots. These foods actually act as an edible toothbrush scrubbing your teeth as you eat them. The result is the promotion of much better oral hygiene and fresher breath than if you had been eating soft and sticky foods.

4.Chew Your Way to Fresh Breath

Bad breath can be attacked by increased saliva flow in the mouth. This can be achieved by chewing sugar-free gum as your body sends up flows of saliva to digest what it thinks is food (due to signals you send whilst chewing). Chewing gum also helps to clean your teeth due to its unique texture. The softness allows the gum to mould into your teeth and potentially pull out small pieces of trapped food.

5. Water Down Your Bad Breath

A dry mouth is bad breaths best friend. It allows those left over concoctions of garlic and curry to attack full strength. If you make the decision to drink plenty of water then this can help in multiple ways. Firstly, the water will wash through your teeth pulling out some of the food that may be stuck. Water also helps to move saliva around the mouth more easily thus reducing bad breath.

Is There Any Alternative?

Here are Bamboo, we understand the frustration that bad breath can give to a person. That's why we have created our very special fresh breath clinic. The aim of the fresh breath clinic is to pin point exactly what is causing your bad breath and to rectify it as soon as possible. There are several different causes of bad breath but thanks to the unrivalled expertise of our dentists and hygienists we will be able to find out what the root cause of your issue is. Upon finding this knowledge we will be able to treat you accordingly whether that be replacing poorly fitted fillings or advising you on how to improve your oral hygiene.