How does poor dental hygiene contribute to bad breath?
Even somebody whose mouth is meticulously scraped, cleaned and flossed can still have bad breath. However, if you don’t have good oral hygiene, you’re more likely to have it. “With poor dental hygiene,” says Price “we’re talking about a buildup of plaque.” Plaque is made up of colonies of bacteria mixed with mucous, cells that slough off the cheeks, and food debris. Food sitting around anywhere else is called garbage, and it has a distinct aroma. So decomposing foods that are not removed from the mouth via dental floss, a toothbrush, and rinsing, will produce odors. In addition, a mouth that has unfilled cavities or gum disease in which there might be spaces between the tooth and gums, gives bacteria a place to hide. In fact, people who experience bleeding gums from gum disease have breakdown products in the blood that give the mouth a distinctive odor. How do dry mouth conditions contribute to bad breath? For the most part, if the bacterial population is kept under control, the volati