How to Fix Dry Mouth Bad Breath Problems

When you wake up in the morning, have you noticed how dry your mouth is? You're probably already aware of smelly morning breath, but you may not know that one cause of morning breath is a dry mouth. Even if you've taken care to floss, brush, and use mouth wash the previous evening, you still wake up with a dry mouth and bad breath.

Bad breath is caused by bacteria. There are over 800 different kinds of bacteria that hang out in the mouth, giving you bad breath. These bacteria produces sulfur compounds that cause the smell.

Bad breath caused by a dry mouth is categorized as transient bad breath. This type is much more manageable than chronic conditions (known as Halitosis) and has quick and easy treatments.

There are three main reasons why a dry mouth leads to bad breath.

1. When the mouth is dry, the bacteria will become more concentrated in the saliva that remains. This high concentration of bacteria can lead to a higher level volatilization (read:evaporation) into the air. With more of the bacteria in the air, the smell and odor of the mouth will carry farther and be far stronger.

2. The drying of the mouth changes the pH balance (the ratio of basic to acidity) in the mouth. This change in environment is more favorable to bacterial growth.

3. Less saliva leads to less of the flushing of bacteria from the mouth. With less flushing - more bacteria and debris accumulate in the mouth.

To see or observe the results of these problems, take note of the tongue after a night of rest. When the mouth is dry for long periods of time, like overnight, the tongue will become coated in a white or yellow substance. This is the active bacteria production and the color is due to accumulated sulfur compounds. The thicker the coating, the more foul the breath.

One way to fight this is to use a tongue scraper after brushing your teeth. This will clean out food debris trapped in the tongue. To do this, start from the back of the tongue and slowly scrape to the tip. Repeat as desired, but be cautious to not over do it- this can lead to bleeding.

Another simple remedy is to drink water every few minutes to flush out the bacteria. Before doing anything else in the morning, drink two glasses of lukewarm water. This will help wake up the body and set it to active mode, activating internal organs, antibodies, and the salivary glands. This is important because saliva has bacteria fighting properties and is the natural combatant to bad breath. A dry mouth has less saliva, which increases foul breath.

A third remedy is to eat healthy snacks that are rich in fluids. Examples of this are apples, berries, and oranges. These kinds fruits will help to lower the bacteria level. The fluids in the fruits also contain nutrients that are essential to removing toxins from the body, as well as stimulate the salivary glands to produce more saliva, which, in turn, fights off bad breath caused by a dry mouth.

I am sure you are now better equipped to deal with dry mouth bad breath problems in the future. The more you understand the reasons and causes of it - the better you are able to find the solutions.