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Food and Drinks for Fresher Breath: Preventing Halitosis

It is no secret that eating certain food can make your breath smell. Dishes that contain onions, garlic, or anything spicy is sure to make your mouth reek, and they often don’t go away even if you brush your teeth.

If your problem with halitosis seems persistent, you may want to look at what you are eating. Fortunately, just as there are certain foods that make your breath smell bad, there are also some that fight off the stench.

Crunchy food

Food items that are soft and sticky are more likely to get stuck between your teeth, and this attracts bacteria. They feed off the bits and pieces of food and their waste products cause foul-smelling odours.

Eating crunchy foodstuffs strips away these leftover traces from your teeth. Fruits and vegetables, such as celery, carrots and apples, are good examples of tooth scrubbers that may help make your mouth less smelly. They are better eaten raw, as their surface is naturally abrasive, essentially ‘brushing’ your teeth.

If you really want to make your mouth inhospitable to bacteria, try eating fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin C, such as broccoli and oranges. Vitamin C is extremely potent to bacteria, being acidic, and is one of the few ways to naturally kill off even the most resilient of microorganisms.

Cleansing Water

If you drink a lot of soft drinks, alcohol, or coffee, chances are your breath will start to smell bad. Anything that can stain your teeth is likely to cause your breath to smell; this can be more problematic, as these are harder to get rid of with simple brushing. Reduce your intake of sugary drinks and go with water instead.

Water is the ultimate cleanser, and it does not just clean your teeth, but your entire body as well. Drinking water causes your mouth to produce more saliva, your mouth’s natural cleaning agent, which then dissolves bits of food left between your teeth and lower bacterial levels.

At Parbold Dental Practice, we understand that cutting down on sugary drinks and smelly foods are the best ways to fight bad breath. Contact us today for more information about our preventative dentistry.