Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

One thing is known for sure.. that dry mouth will allow natural oral bacteria to run out of control and produce enough VSCs to give BB - as happens to every single person during the night to varying degrees.

Apart from localised infections etc which will produce their own odours which are generally straightforward to diagnose, saliva is the single most important defense against BB relating to the natural bacterial flora in the mouth. Digestive issues can cause dehydration which will lead to mouth dryness. But also, it might be the other way around and its whatever is causing mouth dryness to also cause the common digestive issues which so many seem to have, such as constipation, and this is how it all relates.
Stress causes the mouth to dry because this is an automatic reaction to preserve our fluids for fight or flight response. Its all controlled automatically by whatever system controls these things. And this could be how depression is connected with BB because depression (as well as the medications to deal with depression) can affect the amount of saliva, and there have been many stories linking antidepressants/depression with BB.

There has to be a common cause among people who are unable to find anything wrong with them. Something like this, which people may not realise is happening because they assume its just part of having bad breath and simply dont realise how dry their mouth is. Hormones, which many suspect to be connected with chronic BB could also be connected to saliva in this way.

Lots of people who try different diets report improvements in their breath, such as the raw diet. These types of food are generally quite healthy, fruit and veg etc and are likely to help with hydration, and hence could be the reason why breath improves?

If you read about PND, the most important thing to thin the mucus is to ensure adequate hydration. But if some people are unable to deal with their general dryness no matter how much water they drink, how are they meant to thin their mucus? and this might be why another very common symptom of BB is the awareness of excessive amounts of PND.

Please post your thoughts on anything relating to any of this.

It would be interesting to know how many people here suffer with a dry mouth or low saliva flow. I drink 2-3 litres of water a day, but still have a very dry mouth, I almost need to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth as there's so little saliva.

At my last ENT visit, the guy looked into my mouth and was shocked at how dry it was, he asked me to drink more water (I was drinking enough as it was), suck sugar free citrus flavour sweets and ice cubes and use biotene dry mouth products. None of these things increased saliva flow in my mouth significantly...

I just think that having a dry mouth could possibly be contributing to some people's bb or is maybe even the sole cause. How many people have a dry mouth? And how do you increase your saliva flow (if you're able to do this at all?)

I have dry mouth and I realized a lot of people I met have some kind of breath have dry mouth.

Recently I found that a chewable probiotics is helpful to increase saliva flow, that is Udo's Choice super 5 which include L.Salivarius.

But the sugar and acid in it compromised it;s merit, I am looking for another chewable L.Salivarius without any sort of sugar in it. info are welcom.

Snobuni wrote:It would be interesting to know how many people here suffer with a dry mouth or low saliva flow. I drink 2-3 litres of water a day, but still have a very dry mouth, I almost need to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth as there's so little saliva.

At my last ENT visit, the guy looked into my mouth and was shocked at how dry it was, he asked me to drink more water (I was drinking enough as it was), suck sugar free citrus flavour sweets and ice cubes and use biotene dry mouth products. None of these things increased saliva flow in my mouth significantly...

I just think that having a dry mouth could possibly be contributing to some people's bb or is maybe even the sole cause. How many people have a dry mouth? And how do you increase your saliva flow (if you're able to do this at all?)

I use these little discs that you stick to the roof of your mouth.. they have natural enzymes and xylitol and are time released. They actually work pretty good at keep your mouth moist. I am pretty sure my problem is not in my mouth but rather sinuses, tonsils, throat, so it doesnt cure my bb issue but maybe it will help with yours? you can find them at drugstore.com under the breath products...

Thanks for the advice Longislander, I'll give those discs a go

what are these discs? Thanks!

longislander wrote:

Snobuni wrote:It would be interesting to know how many people here suffer with a dry mouth or low saliva flow. I drink 2-3 litres of water a day, but still have a very dry mouth, I almost need to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth as there's so little saliva.

At my last ENT visit, the guy looked into my mouth and was shocked at how dry it was, he asked me to drink more water (I was drinking enough as it was), suck sugar free citrus flavour sweets and ice cubes and use biotene dry mouth products. None of these things increased saliva flow in my mouth significantly...

I just think that having a dry mouth could possibly be contributing to some people's bb or is maybe even the sole cause. How many people have a dry mouth? And how do you increase your saliva flow (if you're able to do this at all?)

I use these little discs that you stick to the roof of your mouth.. they have natural enzymes and xylitol and are time released. They actually work pretty good at keep your mouth moist. I am pretty sure my problem is not in my mouth but rather sinuses, tonsils, throat, so it doesnt cure my bb issue but maybe it will help with yours? you can find them at drugstore.com under the breath products...