Bad Breath? Me? Really?
Yes, you! 99% of people do not know they have bad breath. The reason is simple because individuals that "live" with their bad breath suffer from something we all have....Olfactory adaptation, ie, olfactory fatigue or odor fatigue. A great example is like as soon as you spray some cologne or perfume on yourself, we often feel it is gone but really our sense of smell has adapted or fatigued. It is still there. We don't smell it, but others do.
That is what bad breath odors are like. We lose sense of our bad breath but everyone else smells it and runs from us, holds their hands up in a protective fashion or comes out with "You have terrible breath. Have you brushed your teeth?" At that point, we are often terribly embarrassed and shun ourselves away until we can brush our teeth.
So what is bad breath other than a simple bad odor issue? Simply put. It is the decomposition of tissue. The natural bacteria in our mouths eat and go to the bathroom just like us, unfortunately it is in our mouths. There are natural sugars and proteins in our saliva and if you leave half of a hamburger between your teeth, then there is even more for the bacteria to eat. Don't believe me? Most of us brush our teeth before we go to bed and try not to have a midnight snack, right? So why do our mouths smell like a toilet in the morning?! BOOM, you heard me already...your mouth is a bacterial toilet so the more junk you leave behind, in between your teeth and gums results in a mouth that smells like a toilet, ie, BAD BREATH. The medical professional calls it Halitosis but now your spouse, special person or business partner want nothing to do with you. Ouch!
Is it as simple as better oral hygiene? Yes and no. Let's continue this discussion but let me get this out first.
