Hygiene Apart…

If you do not drink water for long or have not eaten anything for whatever reason, your mouth will start giving out a typically bad smell.

Also Read: Avoid Bad Breath

Here Is Why

When you do not eat or drink water for prolonged hours, your saliva production goes down and your mouth becomes drier than usual.

When your mouth dries up, your body starts conserving water and as a result the already present saliva in your mouth thickens.

Apart from that, when you do not eat or drink for long, the acids in your stomach come to your mouth, causing bad breath. These acids can even harm your tooth enamel if you do not eat or drink water at regular intervals.

Plaque is always present in your mouth no matter how often you wash your mouth or clean your teeth. When you drink water or eat something, the plaque is flushed away.

When you do not eat for long or drink water, the plaque stays and the thickened saliva, which is normally alkaline, turns acidic.

Bacteria start acting on saliva and plaque leading to bad breath.

Hydration Works

If you want to prevent bad breath, make sure you drink water at regular intervals and keep your mouth well hydrated.

• You can keep a bottle of water at your workstation and keep sipping water every now and then.
• You can also try chewing sugar-free gum or a mouth freshener to keep the bad breath away.
• Chewing gum will activate the salivation process and your mouth will be moist again.

• Keep a clove at the side of your mouth and keep sucking it. This will help you keep your breath fresh.
• Eating apples will also help clear the plaque and keep bad breath away.
• If you have an urgent meeting coming up and you do not have time to chew gum or saunf, simply rinse your mouth with water. This will help wash the bacteria away and you will not have bad breath.

Remember to eat on time. If you cannot have proper lunch or breakfast, make sure you nibble on snacks that will keep your saliva production continuous and prevent bad breath.

(With inputs from Dr. Nisha Khushlani, Dentist from Indu Clinic, Colaba and Dr. Shalini Gupta, Dentist from Lady Ratan Tata Medical Centre, Mumbai)