Is Bad Dental Work Causing Your Bad Breath?

By Paul J. Heldt - The Bad Breath Report

Faulty dental work is more common than you think, and it just might be the cause of your bad breath. Be skeptical; although most dentists are honest, your dentist may not always tell you the truth. After all, if the faulty dental work was their mistake, they might blame everything else - except bad dental work - for your bad breath.

Here is a quick checklist of problems to look for in your mouth:

Overhanging Restorations: They can easily trap food, which provides a feast for bad breath bacteria.

Crown Leakage: Use of excess cement or leaking crowns can cause serious dental complications. If you notice anything out of the normal, consult with a dentist that did not perform the work and see what they have to say.

Braces: Although bad breath from braces is usually not the result of faulty dental work, braces easily trap food. Consider purchasing a water pik, which blasts away food particles with pressurized water.

Incomplete Scaling: This allows food particles to get trapped around your gums--leading to gum disease and bad breath.

Loose-Fitting Dentures: Dentures may not fit well due to weight loss or gain, aging, or faulty dental work. If your dentures do not fit snugly, consult with your dentist to get a better fit.

Other Overlooked Culprits

Although bad breath resulting from faulty dental work is not very common, there are other common, overlooked factors which may cause--or worsen your bad breath.

Food Impactation: A thorough dental exam should check for food that has wedged itself in strange places of your mouth. Food impactation can lead to serious dental problems down the road if it is not corrected immediately.

Unclean Dentures or Retainers: If you wear dentures or retainers, make sure to clean them thoroughly, twice a day. Otherwise, food particles and bacteria will accumulate in them and make bad breath extremely difficult to cure.

Gum Disease: The same bacteria that cause gum disease also cause bad breath, so it's no surprise that curing gum disease is one of the best ways to get rid of bad breath.

Dry Mouth: Chronic dry mouth, resulting from a medical condition or from taking antibiotics can make bad breath horrible.

Medical Conditions: Auto-immune diseases and diabetes can cause many undesirable health problems--including gum disease, bad breath and thrush. Although you may not be able to cure certain medical conditions, taking preventative measures to keep bad breath away are the best idea!

Indigestion: Even though bad breath does not come from the stomach, when acid invades your esophagus (due to indigestion), some of the acidic odors may travel up your esophagus and out your mouth. Bad breath from indigestion has a significantly different odor than bad breath caused by bacteria on your tongue.

Tonsil Problems: Although they affect only a small percentage of bad breath sufferers, some people accumulate bacteria on their tonsils, which produces a constant source of bad breath. Aside from getting your tonsils removed, the second-best measure is to make sure to gargle with an alcohol-free mouthwash for ninety seconds, to get rid of bacteria at the back of your tongue and on your tonsils.

Sinus Infections: These infections can produce excess mucus, which drips down your sinus into the back of your throat - providing plenty of 'food' for bad breath bacteria to feed on. Sinus infections can also produce other undesirable odors that people can smell when you breathe out of your nose.

Because there are many causes of bad breath, treating the source of your problem is the best cure.