I’m sure nobody likes that smell in their mouth once they get up every morning. Well, that smell can be easily tackled by brushing your teeth, eating or drinking. If the bad breath is persistent in your mouth for the rest of the day, it can turn out to be really embarrassing. Bad breath or halitosis, not only affects the health or comfort, but it can also make your child feel low self esteem or confidence, as the bad smell refrains them to open their mouth in public. There are certain reasons for developing bad breath during teenage. This issue has some related myths, which can make you worry, but the home remedies listed in this article can surely help you cure the bad breath in your teenage child. Let’s look into the details of bad breath in teenagers.

In this article:

Causes of Bad Breath in Teenagers
Remedies for Bad Breath in Teenagers
Bad Breath in Teenagers : Myths

All You Need to Know about Bad Breath in Teenagers

Causes of Bad Breath in Teenagers

The most probable reasons for your teenage kid to develop bad breath are listed below:

1. What you Eat and Drink

In everyday life, your child may be eating a lot of things with strong odor, and sometimes the smell seeps into your bloodstream and comes out directly from the lungs, so merely brushing cannot be helpful. Some food items also contains carbs and high sugar level which can cause bad breath.

2. Dry Mouth

The saliva present in the mouth is helpful in cleansing the mouth, but if your mouth doesn’t produce enough saliva, the natural cleansing process doesn’t take place and this leads to bad breath.

3. Bacterial Growth

Bacterial growth is the most common cause of bad breath. If the bacteria which are normally present in the mouth are start to develop rapidly, they start feeding on the left over food in the mouth, causing decay of the food which can lead to foul smell.

4. Poor Dental Hygiene

This is apparently the root of any dental problem. If your do not clean and floss your mouth properly, bad breath is sure to happen.

5. Health Issues

It is very obvious to have bad breath in case you are suffering from a cold or fever, or bronchitis, diabetes or any infection.

6. Tooth Decay

The germs present in your decaying tooth can cause bad breath.

7. Smoking

A stale smell temporarily arises in your mouth after smoking or eating tobacco, it can lead to risks of oral cancer and bad breath is a sign of it.

Remedies for Bad Breath in Teenagers

The first step to curing bad breath is to recognise the possible reason for why your child has it. Moreover, the remedies listed below can be really helpful:

1. Drink Lots of Water

Staying hydrated avoids dry mouth. You must also avoid cold drinks and coke as they contain a high level of sugar.

2. Stop Smoking

If the bad smell in the mouth is due to smoking, you must quit smoking to get rid of it.

3. Practice Good Oral Hygiene

Brush your teeth twice for at least two minutes and floss your mouth once a day. Good oral hygiene can help you suppress bad breath if the root cause of it is your poor oral hygiene.

4. Check on What you Eat

Avoid carbs and highly sugary food items, instead eat crunchy food or vegetable to generate more saliva so that it can naturally cleanse your mouth.

5. Braces and Retainers

If your child is on braces or retainers, they need to be extra careful. Braces make it difficult to brush your teeth properly, so the food can be stuck in the hard to reach places causing bad breath. So, brush more thoroughly and in case of removable retainers, they should also be cleaned properly.

6. Rinse your Mouth Well with a Mixture of Salt and Warm Water

As the acidic nature of the mixture can kill bacteria.

7. Digestive Enzymes

Digestive problems can cause bad breath, so increasing the digestive enzymes in the body can be helpful. These enzymes can be increased by incorporating animal or plant sources of digestive enzymes in your diet. For example, pineapple contains Bromelain and Papain.

8. Green Tea

Studies have shown that green tea contains antibacterial properties, so it can hold back the bad breath. It also leaves behind a sweet smell in the mouth.

9. Aloe Vera

Aloe vera has antibacterial and antifungal properties so it can easily act as a good mouthwash and kills the plaque causing germs. Boil some water and add aloe vera gel into it once it is cooled to make an aloe vera mouthwash.

10. Essential Oil

Gargle your mouth by mixing 1-2 drops of essential oil in slightly warm water to get rid of bad breath. Peppermint, lemongrass and eucalyptus are the best suited essential oils for this purpose

11. See the Doctor in case of any Infection

Bad Breath in Teenagers: Myths

1. Mouthwash can Make Bad Breath go away Instantly

The truth is a mouthwash can get rid of bad breath only temporarily. An antiseptic or plaque reducing mouthwash can be more effective.

2. Brushing Regularly can Successfully avoid Bad Breath

Most of the people brush their teeth for maximum of 30 secs. In order to stay away from bad breath, you must brush your teeth for two minutes, two times a day. You must also make it a point to floss at least once a day to maintain proper dental hygiene.

3. You will be able to Infer if you have Bad Breath by Breathing into your Hands

Breathing does not involve the throat, so you cannot infer if you have bad breath or not just by breathing. It only when you speak, that your use your throat, and the while talking your bring out the bad breath from the back of the mouth(that’s where it originates)

Conclusion

I hope you are no more worried in case your child has bad breath and have already found the possible reason and the appropriate remedy for it. It is not a big problem but it surely isn’t a problem to be ignored, so make sure you deal with it as soon as possible. And if any of these remedies do not work in your favour, visit the doctor.Happy parenting!

References

https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/a-z-health-reference/bad-breath

https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/life-stages/teen-oral-care/how-to-treat-bad-breath-in-teenagers-0714