Bad Morning Breath

Unless you never go to sleep, you are bound to have what’s called “morning breath.” You may have noticed it yourself, or perhaps  your partner noticed it, or, you may have noticed it on a colleague at work in the morning (another reason to avoid morning meetings!)

Now, for some of us, it’s not so bad, and it doesn’t last very long. Bad morning breath is caused by the same thing that bad breath at other times is caused by – the bacteria in our mouth creating volatile sulfurous compounds (VSC). The reason morning breath is so prevalent, is that during the night, our mouth dries out, so these bacteria, and the nutrients they feed on, do not get washed out of the mouth by our saliva.

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Here’s how it works. During the night saliva production can slow down or even stop. There is less tongue movement, and there is less oxygen moving through the mouth. All these conditions form an excellent environment for the bacteria that cause bad breath. A “perfect storm” if you will.

The bacteria that produce the VSC are anaerobic, meaning they do not require oxygen to live (some anaerobic bacteria actually will die if exposed to oxygen). These bacteria produce energy by the process of fermentation, where simple sugars are combined with other compounds. The products of this process include the VSC that cause your bad morning breath.

The back of the tongue is the place where the majority of these bacteria live and breed, due to the lack of moisture and oxygen. Food deposits, dead tongue skin cells and mucus from postnasal drip can all accumulate here, perfect nutrients for bacteria. Additionally, the makeup of the surface of the back of the tongue, which is a rough texture, is excellent for the bacteria that cause bad breath to grab on to and then breed. They can live and breed underneath the coating of food particles, mucus, pieces of food, dead cells, and other bacteria that accumulate on the surface of the tongue. This is what causes the yellowish or whitish coating on your tongue.

Want to see for yourself? Take a look tomorrow morning.

This layer of bacteria and nutrients often results in the rotten egg smell of bad morning breath.

Probably a lot more than you wanted to know, right?

If you’ve made it this far, you want to know “What can I do about it?” Here are three things you can do starting tonight.

1) Clean your mouth before bedtime. Brush your teeth. Take at least 2 minutes to brush your teeth (you should take at least 2 minutes every time you brush your teeth.)

2) Clean your tongue before you go to bed. If you are only going to clean your tongue once a day, and you have a noticeable bad breath, then do it at night. I recommend you clean your tongue every time you brush your teeth. You want to focus on the back of the tongue. This may take some practice, and some getting used to. It’s worth it!

3) If you wake up at night, for whatever reason, take a sip of water, swish it around in your mouth and either swallow it or spit it out. This will help flush out the stuff that’s causing your bad breath.

Alcohol is a natural drying agent, and promotes bad breath. If you have had a drink or two in the evening, it’s especially important to brush your teeth and clean your mouth prior to going to bed.

In the morning, you can brush and floss your teeth, clean your tongue with a tongue scraper, and rinse your mouth with water, non-alcoholic mouthwash, or even a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water.

If you take these steps, you can usually eliminate foul mouth odors. If you do all this, and have good oral hygiene, and still have bad breath, then you may want to consult a dentist or doctor for further evaluation.

If you want to get all my tips about eliminating bad breath, just fill in your email and I’ll send you 10 tips over 2 weeks that can help you!