NDINDA: How to deal with Bad Breath

 STAY HEALTHY COLUMN

Starting us off today is a quote “Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit." - Google. It is my hope that you, our esteemed readers had a lovely weekend and a good start of week. As of today, Stay Healthy will take you through a common issue that affects everyone of us at some point - Halitosis.

To start with the definition, Halitosis is a condition commonly known as Bad Breath. This is the bad odour that comes out of our mouth or teeth. The persistency of the condition is evident when the odour doesn't seem to disappear even when one has tried using a mouthwash or regular brushing of teeth.

The condition could make one uncomfortable especially when around people. This column will want to take you through the causes and remedies of bad breath.

First and foremost, the most common cause of this condition is poor dental hygiene. This comes in when there are food particles trapped in our gums, which in return produces that unpleasant smell.

This is easy to deal with. Make sure that you brush your teeth regularly after meals and most especially before bed, so as to remove the food remains.

Secondly, smoking. One of the least known side effects of smoking is bad breath. Smoking dries up your mouth, hence making your breath so bad. To help out with this, limit your smoking habit or if possible, try to stop. It will help you in a great way.

Another point to look into is, insufficient production of saliva. In our previous article we discussed on the importance of drinking plenty of water, and one of the reasons is to ensure that there is adequate secretion of saliva. In return, saliva helps in making sure that your mouth is moist all the time. When there is insufficient saliva production, your mouths dry up. Besides, if you have been having dry mouth for a while now, visit a doctor so as to check what could be causing it and recommend a solution to it.

Additionally, the presence of other medical conditions can be another cause. Diseases such as kidney, liver or diabetes issues could be a cause. It is always advisable to have a health check from time to time so that you can get know of any health issue early enough and get the right medication early enough.

Lastly, mouth infections. This could include tooth decay, tooth removal, wounds, sores and gum diseases. Once you discover that you have any of the above mentioned, visiting a dentist would be very important decision, so just to get help from a professional.

Let us make our environment and that of our loved ones amazing by taking a keen look on the above points. Don't let Halitosis separate you from your crew. Healthy living starts with you. 

The writer, FAITH NDINDA is a budding Journalist with passion on Health and Lifestyle matters.