Why do we have Bad Breath in the morning?

Everyone wakes up in the morning with not so good smell, lets see how it happens. 

When we are awake, our mouth produces saliva to hydrate our mouth. We also drink water to quench our thirst and at the same time clean our mouth. When we talk, we allow air to flow out. These activities keep our mouth well ventilated.

When we are asleep, our mouth is usually closed. There’s no ventilation. The morning breath is terrible for those with poor oral hygiene. We cannot see with our naked eyes but a lot is happening in our mouth when we go to bed without cleaning our teeth and mouth properly. 

The situation worsens if you sleep with your mouth open. 

Credit-istock images

 

So How it happens? 

When you are sleeping, salivary flow in your mouth is significantly reduced, or non effective. This allows more bacteria to stay in your mouth and teeth for longer, and allows them to create an odor. 

Although the occurence of bad breath is common, it is seen in larger numbers in smokers. Smoking not only causes your saliva to dry up but also can raise the temperature of your mouth, making it a breeding ground for that dreaded bacteria that causes bad breath.

During the night, the enzymes in saliva will break down food particles remaining in between teeth, on the tongue, or around the gum line. When bacteria act on these molecules of food, they anaerobically digest these molecules and the products of thi breakdown releases volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) which are:

-Hydrogen sulphide

-other chemical compounds such as polyamines, indole, and other sulfur compounds.

These gases escape out of your mouth every-time you open it causing BAD BREATH.

Bad breath at any time can be the result of food choices, poor oral hygiene, infections (mouth, sinus, digestive tract), incomplete digestion, constipation and other conditions,irregular brushing, smoking, tooth decay. 

Ways to reduce it:

 

But there are things you can do to reduce its affect and make the morning breath more tolerable . 

• Keeping a glass or a bottle of water by your bedside and drinking it first in the morning as soon as you wake up serves as some kind of dilution to the smell that will emerge if you open your mouth to speak. 
• Two or three minutes of brushing, flossing, cleaning the tongue with a good tongue scraper, doing an alcohol-free mouthwash before bed makes the bacteria thrive less, helps clean the mouth as well as get rid of the food particles. 
• Cutting down on sugar and carbohydrate-laden food is a good way to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Biannual dental visits also help a lot.

What you should do? 

If you have bad breath chronically and your oral hygiene is good, get a dental check up and ask the dentist if there is an apparent cause, such as an abscess. If the dentist is not able to diagnose the cause, see your doctor about it.