Embarrassing Morning Breath
One of lives little irritations is dealing with morning breath. Have you ever woken up in the am, fresh from snuggling with your significant other? At first happy, relaxed and comfortable when reality begins to roll back in? When a devastating new thought pops in your head. The reality of your embarrassing morning breath rushes to the front of your thoughts. Now that could be an ugly end to a perfect moment. Being careful to keep your mouth shut, you hurry to the bathroom to begin your morning ritual. Sound familiar?
Why Do We Have Morning Breath?
The big question is why do we have morning breath? The main reason for morning breath is from a lack of saliva. When we sleep, saliva production slows down. Saliva is what is needed to wash away bacteria, food particles and acids from your mouth and teeth. As your mouth begins getting dryer, bacteria flourish, causing bad breath to increase.
What Makes Morning Breath Worse?
Everyone has a degree of bad breath when they wake. The degree of your morning breath can be affected by many things.
Mouth Breathers are susceptible to bad breath. When your mouth is open, it becomes very dry causing the bacteria in the mouth to flourish. This happening over an 8 hour period can make for a foul smell come morning.
Medications can Cause Dry Mouth
Many medications cause dry mouth. Medications such as Aleve or Advil Cold and Sinus, Benadryl, Lipitor Tabs or Omeprazole can cause your mouth to become more dry. If you are a person using one of these medications, you might be affected by dry mouth which will in turn increase morning breath.
Another indicator of excessive morning breath is a person with gingivitis or periodontal disease. These conditions indicate that food, plaque and bacteria has entered underneath the gums. As saliva production reduces, this condition will intensify a persons morning breath.
How Do You Reduce Morning Breath?
There is not much that can be done to eliminate bad breath in the morning but it can be made better. Brushing and flossing your teeth before bed is important for removing excess bacteria from your teeth. As we mentioned, bacteria flourishes in a dry environment. Removing as much food particles and bacteria from your mouth before bed will help the problem. The use of a tongue scraper at bedtime is also helpful as it too will eliminate bacteria from your tongue. Drinking a glass of water at bedtime is also helpful. Keeping your body hydrated is good for your health and well as your teeth.
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