What Are The Root Causes of Bad Breath?

In this article, we will discuss exactly what are the root causes of bad breath? There seems to be a curse that has plagued humanity since ancient times the Greeks fought it by chewing aromatic resins while the Chinese resorted to eggshells. In the ancient Jewish Talmud it's even considered legal grounds for divorce.

This horrible scourge is halitosis otherwise known as bad breath but what causes it and why is it so universally terrifying. Think of some of the worst odors you can imagine like garbage feces or rotting meat. All of these smells come from the activity of microorganisms particularly bacteria and as disgusting as it may sound similar bacteria live in the moisture-rich environment of your mouth.

Why Your Bacteria Causes Bad Breath

Don't panic the presence of bacteria in your body is not only normal it's actually vital for all sorts of things like digestion and disease prevention. But like all living things bacteria need to eat and the bacteria in your mouth, feed off of mucus food remnants and dead tissue cells in order to absorb nutrients through their cell membranes. They must break down the organic matter into much smaller molecules, for example, they'll break proteins into their components amino acids and then break those down even further into various compounds.

Some of the foul-smelling byproducts of these reactions such as hydrogen sulfide and cadaverine escape into the air and move their way towards unsuspecting noses. Our sensitivity to these odors and interpret them as bad smells. Maybe an evolutionary mechanism warning us of rotten food and the presence of disease.

How You Smell to Potential Partners 

The smell is one of our most intimate and primal senses playing a huge role in our attraction to potential mates in one poll 59% of men and 70% of women said they wouldn't go on a date with someone who has bad breath. Which may be why Americans alone spend 1 billion dollars a year on various breath products, fortunately, most bad breath is easily treated.

Bacteria in The Gums

The worst-smelling byproducts come from gram-negative bacteria that live in the spaces between gums and teeth and on the back of the tongue. By brushing and flossing our teeth using antibacterial mouthwash at bedtime gently cleaning the back of the tongue with a plastic scraper and even just eating a healthy breakfast.

We can remove many of these bacteria and their food sources in some cases these measures may not be enough due to dental problems. Nasal emissions or rarer ailments such as liver disease and uncontrolled diabetes behaviors like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption also have a very recognizable odor.

Where Does This Smell Originate

Regardless of the cause the bad smell almost always originates in the mouth and not the stomach or elsewhere in the body but one of the biggest challenges lies in actually determining how our breath smells in the first place.

And it's unclear what causes of bad breath and why we seem to acclimatize to the smell inside our own mouths and judge it using methods like cupping your hands over your mouth or licking and smelling your wrists.

Studies showed that even when people do this they tend to rate the smell subjectively according to how bad they thought it was going to be.