What are the causes and reasons for bad breath? Read and understand about the most common causes for bad mouth odor. Bad breath, medically known as halitosis, is a common oral problem and there are many different causes and reasons for bad mouth odor.

To know whether you suffer from halitosis, try a simple breath test by licking the back of your hand. Wait for the saliva to dry after five seconds and then smell it. If you smell a bad odor, you can be pretty sure that your breath is the same too.

So What Are The Common Reasons And Causes For Bad Breath?

In most cases, persistent or chronic bad breath is caused by a build up of excessive oral bacteria in the mouth and tongue as a result of food debris, plaque or gum disease.

Certain foods such as onions and garlic are known to cause bad breath. That's because they contain odor-causing volatile sulfur compounds which cause breath to smell bad. Consumption of alcohol, coffee or diary products can also cause the breath to smell unpleasant.

Smoking or use of tobacco products irritates the gum, causes loss of taste and discoloration of the teeth. People who smoke are also more likely to suffer from gum disease such as periodontal disease which are known to cause bad breath.

Certain medications like antidepressants, diuretics and aspirin can lead to a decrease in saliva production causing dry mouth (xerostomia). Since our saliva is our body natural mouthwash to help cleanse and reduce bacteria in our mouth, a lack of saliva production can result in our breath smelling bad. Similarly, due to the inactivity of our salivary glands during sleep, that is also why most people wake up with a foul smelling morning breath.

On other rare occasions, halitosis can also be cause by other health or medical problems such as infection in the respiratory tract, chronic sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, throat or tonsil infection, gastrointestinal disturbance, liver or kidney ailment.