What is dry mouth bad breath you ask? It is foul-smelling breath caused from too little saliva in the mouth. When you suffer from dry mouth on a regular basis it is called xerostomia. Saliva is important not only for keeping the mouth moist it is also the first part of your digestive system.
It contains enzymes that help to break down the food you eat.
Without saliva your food would not start digested until it hits your stomach. When your mouth goes dry, the food does not get the enzymes to begin breaking down. This can leave too much residue in your mouth to feed bacteria. The result will be dry mouth bad breath.
Since saliva provides the mouth oxygen on top of the enzymes, the lack of it sets up a perfect breeding ground the bacteria that produce sulfur. This is what is causing the breath to smell bad. There are medications and other products available today to help stimulate the salivary glands so they make more saliva.
Along with dry mouth the type a tongue you have could contribute to bad breath. A rough-textured tongue is thought to hold more bacteria than a smoother one. This allows for more sulfur to be released as the bacteria thrive. The texture of the tongue can be an inherited trait.
Some people can have longer papillae on their tongues and these can trap more bacteria. This is known as hairy tongue. More sulfur is produced to cause stinky breath.
If the tongue becomes dry as in xerostomia it can become easily damaged if you are not careful. You should avoid brushing or scraping it too harshly. This could make it harder to remove the bacteria in the normal way. You might have to rely on mouth rinses to do the trick. This might be the only way to avoid dry mouth bad breath under these circumstances.
Another cause for a dry mouth can be medications. If this happens as a result of something you have been prescribed, then see if your doctor can change the medication to something that does not dry the mouth so bad.
Sometimes you can dry out the mouth temporarily by sleeping with your mouth open. Then you wake up with morning breath and feeling like you have been eating cotton. There is not much to do about this, unless you get some type of device to hold your jaw shut as you sleep. Since you are not aware of what you do as you sleep.
So whether your dry mouth bad breath is caused by xerostomia, medication, or holding your mouth by sleeping, know that you can come up with solutions. You do not need to go around with stinky breath. There are too many treatments, mouthwashes and other things to help alleviate the problems these days. Also do your part with avoiding certain food and drink that can cause bad breath on their own. Why compound the problem when you don’t have to.