Ever Wondered why People Keep Offering you Mints and Breath Strips?

By: Jim McDonald

Most people suffer from bad breath at some stage and most don't even know they have it. And believe it or not, it is impossible to smell your breath by cupping your hand, exhaling into it then smelling. All you are clearly doing is smelling your hand. This is because humans are wired in a way that makes it impossible to smell your own breath - it is a function referred to as Acclimation. Acclimation is necessary, because without this hallmark, our sense of smell would be permanently obscured by our own odors and scents.

There are plenty of ways to check your breath, though, and many of them can be performed at home. The most absolute procedure of bad breath checking is one that cannot be done at home. You will need to visit a clinic that specializes in bad breath and oral problems and they will use a Halimeter to measure the level of sulfides that exist in your mouth.

Why Sulfides? Sulfides are arguably the root cause of halitosis. Everyone has the same bacteria in their mouth, and the bacteria that we have in our mouths need to be there. These bacteria assist humans in digestion by breaking down proteins found in specific foods, mucous or phlegm, blood, and in diseased or "broken-down" oral tissue. But for some people, the bacteria behaves differently with these proteins and the culminating factor is known as "volatile sulfur compounds" (VSC). These sulfur compounds, also known as Sulfides, produce the odor.

Following are a number of practices for investigating your breath at home. They are quite ingenuous and in no way are they as compelling as using the Halimeter, but they can give you a very good idea on just how bad your breath is.

The quickest, easiest and cheapest way to determine whether or not you have bad breath is to ask someone you absolutely trust. Tell them that you want a 100% candid answer, and get them to check your breath at sporadic times of the day, because there will be some fluctuations.

Next is the cotton gauze test. Take a piece of cotton gauze and wipe the top of your tongue with it. Then you simply smell the gauze. If you sense an odor then you're more foreseeable a halitosis sufferer. And, if you notice a yellow/brown blemish on the gauze, you have undoubtedly got a heightened level of sulfides and are very likely to have extreme halitosis.

The next method involve licking the back of your hand to check for bad breath, so you might want to make sure too many people aren't watching - they might think you're crazy. The process is simple - just lick the back of your hand and let it dry for 10-15 seconds - then smell it. If there is an odor present, then you've got bad breath. The explanation for this is simple. When you lick the back of your hand, the sulfides travel from your tongue to your hand.

Dental floss is another cheap and easy way to check for bad breath. In fact, it not only gives you an indication of whether your breath stinks, but it can give you a clear formula on how to dispel the smell too. That is, floss your teeth, paying notable attention to the rear teeth, then smell the floss - if you pull out chunks of food and they smell, then you'll know right away that your breath won't be too desirable, and you will also get a quick appreciation of the fact that if you keep on flossing you might just get rid of the bad breath.

The easy tongue-coloration test doesn't specifically involve smelling anything, but it can give some very good insight into your halitosis problem. All you need to do is stand in front of a mirror and extend your tongue out as far as you comfortably can. What you are looking for is if there is any coloration, like white or yellow/brown, and if there is, then it is likely that you have a build-up of sulfides and as a result you'll have halitosis.

In summary, there are countless methods for testing yourself for bad breath without visiting a doctor or breath clinic. But you do need to have in mind the fact that these approaches in no way compare to the effect of using a specialized tool like a Halimeter. In addition, Gum, Breath mints, breath strips and mouthwash are NOT the answer. They are just part of a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry which provides a very short 'facade' for the real cause. The real answer to solving the bad breath problem is to minimize the concentration of sulfides that exist in your mouth. Do this and people will stop offering you mints and breath strips, and they will likely engage in longer conversations with you.

Article Source: http://appliedhealtharticles.com

Halitosis, or plain old bad breath, is more embarrassing than a health issue. Using Mouth wash, brushing your teeth, tongue cleaning and flossing play a major role in Curing halitosis. Visit www.badbreath-halitosis.info for indepth articles and useful bad breath information.

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