Not everyone knows that there is a medical definition for bad breath called halitosis. The emitted “aroma” causes inconvenience not only to the source of this phenomenon, but also to the people around him. Therefore, anyone who has ever encountered a similar problem immediately asked questions: where does the bad smell come from? How can you fight it? Are there any traditional methods of getting rid of this “aroma”?
It is impossible to answer all these questions briefly and definitely. Why? Because if you say that bad breath occurs only due to, say, poor oral care, then this will be wrong. After all, there are a huge number of reasons that can provoke an unhealthy smell. This will be discussed a little later.
As for the question of how to deal with it, there are also many possible answers. It’s one thing if a bad odor is caused, say, by poor brushing of teeth, then you just need to pick up a toothbrush and toothpaste to eliminate this problem. But the cause of halitosis can be, say, disturbances in the functioning of the stomach or respiratory system.
People often complain of bad breath, mainly women who have problems in the endocrine system or those who have elevated sugar levels. Therefore, such halitosis does not include treatment at home; as they say, it is unlikely that it will be possible to get rid of the problem with the help of toothpaste. Which, in general, is not surprising - after all, the causes are hidden not in the oral cavity, but in other organs and systems of the patient. This means that before you begin treatment, you need to find out the reason for the bad smell in your mouth.
Main reasons
There are many folk recipes for getting rid of this unpleasant phenomenon, but first you need to know the main factors that contribute to the occurrence of a bad smell.
Various reasons can lead to the appearance of halitosis, for example, it can be caused by:
- the patient's abuse of cigarette smoking;
- wearing incorrectly fitted dentures;
- existing various dental diseases, including periodontal disease;
- diseases of internal organs, tonsillitis;
- the patient has various gum pathologies;
- dental caries, improper oral hygiene;
- dry mouth, which often occurs as a result of various malfunctions in the body. A poor diet may reduce normal saliva production;
- hormonal imbalances, sinusitis, rhinitis and other reasons.
The disease halitosis can be not only temporary, but permanent. But no matter the duration, the patient still feels a state of discomfort and awkwardness when communicating with friends or relatives. And sometimes he doesn’t even know that he has halitosis until someone close to him points it out to him.
Initially, regardless of what treatment is chosen, spicy and strong-smelling foods should be excluded from the diet.
Try to prepare food using foods that contain a lot of fiber, it is advisable to eat more fruits, greens, vegetables, and be sure to drink juices. It's a good idea to take multivitamin complexes. Strengthening the immune system means reducing the risk that the unpleasant odor may return.
Simple folk recipes
Now, regarding the question of whether there are folk remedies for halitosis. Yes, there are a lot of them. But, as already mentioned, you need to know what caused it. After all, you can simply “kill” the smell for a while, or you can get rid of it forever by eliminating the source of the problem.
While you are looking for the source of the problem, simultaneously try to get rid of the smell using folk remedies. First, a few simple recipes that can remove unpleasant odors:
- Nuts. Anise seeds. You need to first sugar them, and then consume them daily on an empty stomach.
- Vegetable oil (preferably olive). Salt. Before use, prepare a mixture of oil and a teaspoon of salt. You need to rinse your mouth for five minutes in the morning and before going to bed. After completing the procedure, refrain from eating and drinking for a while.
- Ginger. Ginger should be consumed in powder form after meals. The norm is approximately half a teaspoon of powder.
- Apple. You need to eat two apples every morning on an empty stomach. Before eating fruit, rinse your mouth with water.
- Sagebrush. The recipe is simple: you need to pour two spoons of the plant with a glass of boiled water and leave for a third of an hour. Filter. Rinse your mouth with the resulting infusion throughout the day intermittently.
- A mixture of plants. To prepare the drink you will need several chamomile flowers, birch leaves, nettles, St. John's wort, and oak bark. Prepare in equal proportions, mix and brew as tea. You need to drink half a glass at least three times.
- Anise. You will need two spoons of anise seeds and a glass of water. Boil water and brew seeds in it. After infusing for twenty minutes, pass through a filter. You can rinse not only your mouth, but also your throat. The procedure is usually performed after meals. Anise seeds are a folk remedy known for its anti-inflammatory and bactericidal properties. In addition, anise can be very useful for improving the functioning of the stomach and respiratory organs; it helps to successfully get rid of diseases of the gums and throat.
“Forest balm” for halitosis: reviews
Forest Balsam
Lesnoy Balsam trademark offers its consumers several types of rinses:
- For inflammation
- For sensitive teeth
- "Forte" - with enhanced formula
- For bleeding gums
- To protect oral tissues
- For prevention
- Professional protection
- Comprehensive protection
- Whitening effect
You can choose a suitable mouthwash option for yourself and use it to eliminate bad breath. The dentist will also help you do this after examining the condition of the oral cavity. Also read reviews of people who used “Forest Balsam” and coped with a problem such as halitosis:
Oksana, 25 years old
My gums were bleeding and this caused halitosis. When examined by a dentist, it turned out that I also had caries in two of my teeth. After filling the teeth, the doctor prescribed rinsing with “Forest Balm” for bleeding gums. In addition, I changed my diet and stopped eating sweet and spicy foods. It's been two weeks since I went to the dentist, and I regularly follow his advice, rinsing my mouth after every meal. The smell has disappeared, so feel free to use this remedy for halitosis - it is effective and completely natural.
Oleg, 30 years old
I developed halitosis six months ago. I put off going to the doctor until the last moment, when I started having serious stomach problems. A stomach ulcer resulted in foul breath. In addition to the main treatment and surgery, the doctor prescribed rinsing the mouth with Forest Balm. After using it, the signs of halitosis began to disappear. But the doctor said that the main treatment must be completed, otherwise the bad breath will appear again.
Elena, 29 years old
I use forest balm constantly to prevent halitosis. My brother suffered from this disease. He was examined by many doctors, diseases were identified and treated, but the bad breath remained. At that time, one very experienced dentist advised him to rinse with herbs and soda. If you don’t have time to constantly make decoctions, then he said that you can use Forest Balsam. Now everything is fine, and I use this product for prevention.
We reduce the smell with herbs
Perhaps folk remedies are not always able to eradicate the cause of putrid breath. As we have already said, the reasons may be hidden in diseases of the patient’s organs and systems. But they can reduce the smell, remove it for a while.
To get rid of the problem and reduce the smell, traditional healers advise using medicinal herbs that have a number of beneficial properties. For example, such qualities as suppressing the development of bacteria, as well as having anti-putrefactive, deodorizing properties. Below are some recipes:
- To prepare a medicinal product, take oak bark and calamus (rhizome) and mix in equal proportions. Then you need to place a spoonful of the mixture in a half-liter container filled with water. Boil for at least a quarter of an hour, then the broth should be infused for the same amount of time. After this, filter and rinse your mouth with the resulting drink. It is recommended to do such procedures after eating.
- To get rid of bad breath, you need to rinse your mouth with the following infusion. To prepare it, you will need strawberry berries or leaves (strawberries must be wild strawberries), which are filled with water. The ratio is 100 grams of raw material per half liter of water.
- Pour two tablespoons of willow stem decoction into boiling water and cook for five minutes. After the broth has cooled, you can start rinsing. Do the procedure several times during the day.
- A herbal infusion made from thyme is considered popular and effective. For 100 grams of grass, 300 grams of water.
- An infusion of fresh juice squeezed from sorrel leaves helps a lot. It should be diluted in the proportion of 100 grams of sorrel juice per 200 grams of water. Here you need to adhere to certain recommendations: do not use a juicer to prepare the infusion, and also use metal utensils, since in contact with the metal base it quickly undergoes oxidation. It is best to pound well-washed leaves using a porcelain mortar. It is advisable to squeeze it out using gauze.
Symptoms of halitosis
The main symptom of halitosis is a constant, often appearing heavy spirit coming from the mouth and causing moral discomfort to a person, preventing social contacts.
Depending on what type of microbes prevails in the internal microflora, the breath may smell of sulfur and non-sulfur compounds, reminiscent of the odors we know, which are possessed by:
- rotten cabbage,
- spoiled garlic,
- rotten fish,
- missing cheese,
- "choked" milk,
- rotten eggs,
- decaying meat,
- sweat and feces,
- urine,
- naphthalene,
- gasoline, etc.
As a result, bad breath can develop in a person excessive shyness, self-consciousness, inferiority complex and phobias: fear of close communication with other people, fear of intimate contacts. This problem needs to be fixed quickly.
Treating odor with tinctures
In folk medicine, the problem is dealt with using different recipes. Treatments can be simple or more complex, consist of one or more ingredients, prepared with water or infused with alcohol-containing drinks, such as some of the tinctures listed below. You should take a closer look at them:
- Horseradish tincture. To prepare this remedy for eliminating bad breath, you will need horseradish pulp within a tablespoon. After three days of infusion in 250 grams of vodka, filter. The use of the tincture will not only help remove odor, but also relieve inflammation of the mucous membrane and gums.
- Celery tincture. Chopped celery roots in the same proportion as the previous recipe must be infused for two weeks, and the place should be warm and dark. After this, the tincture is diluted in boiled water (a spoon per glass) and the mouth and throat are rinsed three times during the day.
- St. John's wort tincture. Alcohol tincture from this plant, approximately 25 drops, is diluted with half a glass of water and rinsed in the mouth.
Which doctor treats halitosis?
Unpleasant odor from the mouth: which doctor will help?
As mentioned above, the first doctor who detects the presence of a disease in a person is a dentist. If you have bad breath, you can see a general practitioner, but that doctor will most likely refer you to a dentist first.
When the oral cavity has been sanitized and the dentist indicates that the teeth are healthy, then, if symptoms recur, you can contact the therapist again. If this doctor sees that the illness is contrived by the patient, he may recommend seeking help from a psychologist or psychiatrist.
You should know: Also, with halitosis, the patient is referred to an otolaryngologist and may be referred to an endocrinologist. With halitosis, it is important to have a good metabolism and immunity.
For breathing and digestion
It happens that the cause of a bad odor is a disorder of the digestive system, in which case you can use the following folk recipes:
- To prepare this remedy, you need to grate the zest of several lemons, then add honey (two spoons) and 0.5 cups of mint infusion. It is recommended to take one spoon at least twice a day after meals.
- You can also use the following recipe to eliminate odor: rinse your mouth with hydrogen peroxide diluted with water in equal proportions.
- To eliminate the odor, you can use milk powder to brush your teeth, that is, replace toothpaste with it for a while. It is believed that if you sometimes use this recipe, you can remove not only the smell, but also tartar, while your teeth become whiter, and bleeding gums are eliminated.
The easiest ways
If you don’t have toothpaste and a brush on hand, and no other way to freshen your breath, you can use the easiest methods:
- Take a clove bud into your mouth and hold it there for a while.
- Mint leaves, a slice of lemon, and eucalyptus also help well if you chew them.
- Coffee. You just need to take and chew a coffee bean.
- Sage. To do this, you need to pick a branch of the plant and chew it.
- To eliminate the smell, you can simply chew, for example, a few fennel seeds; parsley, or rather the roots or fresh leaves of this wonderful plant, will also work for this simple procedure.
If halitosis remains after using folk remedies, treatment and consultation should be carried out with a doctor.
