All babies have that fresh clean breath smell. The reality though, is that as they start growing they face challenges to oral health and baby breath is no longer applicable.
Dental care changes as we move through life’s stages. Below we discuss a few of those stages.
Childhood years
No matter what age a person is, the cause of bad breath never changes. It’s the bacteria present in the mouth eating, metabolizing and producing waste that causes bad breath. Many types of bacteria have some benefits to us, but other forms of bacteria such as anaerobic bacteria, emit volatile sulphur compounds. The anaerobic bacteria produce odours equivalent to that of rotten eggs, rotten cabbage and that of decaying matter.
It is in the childhood years that parents should teach their children the simple yet effective habits for life long oral health. Simply put, children need to know the importance of brushing, rinsing and flossing. They also need to know that it is essential to do this at least twice a day.
It is easier for a parent to incorporate these three steps in childhood, rather than in the teen years, when different oral challenges start to loom. Most teens start enjoying gassy sugary drinks. What they don’t realise is that the high volumes of sugar in a soda, feed the bacteria that causes bad breath. Some teenagers might start drinking more coffee. And the sad but true fact is that coffee breath can sour an otherwise fresh mouth.
Adulthood
As we mature into adulthood, oral health challenges increase exponentially. One of the main aspects is that the way in which we brushed our teeth should change in our adult years. In our childhood and teen years, we focused on just brushing, rinsing and flossing. The older we get the higher our chances are to get gum disease. Thus, taking extra care of our gums becomes essential.
Another challenge is the fact that we start taking medications that have side effects that could worsen bad breath. Some medications cause dry mouth, and that makes the battle against bad breath even worse. Other medications could suppress the immune system, which will make it harder for the body to limit the growth of bacteria.
Other factors to take into consideration are the bad habits we adopt in our adult years. These factors include smoking and drinking. Both cause a dry mouth, which is the perfect playground for bad breath causing bacteria to thrive in.
Senior Years
The oral care applied in our adult years still applies in our senior years. There are however, a few extra obstacles that start to emerge at this stage. Receding gums continue to shrink, and offers a safe hiding place for bad breath bacteria. Sleep apnea is another factor which increases the risk of bad breath. The reason is that breathing through the mouth and not the nostrils during the night dries out the oral cavity significantly.
Funny enough, even the products we rely on so heavily to eliminate bad breath, actually backfires. Most mouth washes contain alcohol, and as mentioned above, alcohol dries out the mouth. The best solution to conquering bad breath from childhood to senior years is to use oral care products that do not contain any alcohol.
All Therabreath products are alcohol free. The ingredients are all natural, and there for safe for children, pregnant women and diabetics to use.