Bad breath is an embarrassment that we could all do without. One of the worst things about bad breath is that it is often hard to know if you are suffering. This can lead to that horrible moment when someone else has to tell you that your breath smells. The anxiety to avoid this cringe worthy moment at all costs, can lead many people to take measures to prevent it. But often this can lead people to make the wrong choices.
Many people use mouthwashes or breathe sprays and mints to try and combat the problem, without realising that this will do little more than mask the problem for a very short time and can even make the problem worse. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration conducted tests into the effectiveness of mouthwash and the results were very interesting. It was discovered that mouthwash did not stop the causes of bad breath but only masked the smell from anything between ten minutes and two hours before the smell came back. As a result mouthwash is no longer able to claim that it prevents bad breath in the United States. Similar results were discovered for breath mints and sprays.
In some further studies it has been found that mouthwash can actually make the problem worse as it disrupts the regulation of bacteria in the mouth. Millions if bacteria live in the human mouth in a delicate balance controlled by saliva. Mouthwash kills too many bacteria and changes the production of saliva meaning the bacteria can come back stronger and smellier.
The only way to really prevent bad breath is to make sure you are cleaning your teeth with effective brushing and flossing everyday. Make an appointment with a Central London dentist to find out more about stopping bad breath.
However, sleep apnea has a slightly darker side than snoring. Whereas snoring is the sound of an obstruction in the airway when breathing, apnea is the sound a person makes when they have completely stopped breathing. This may happen several times during the night and in some cases hundreds of times. The cessation of breathing that causes apnea has two main causes. The most common is caused when the airway is blocked by a collapsing soft palate at the back of the throat. This temporarily stops the person breathing before it rights itself. This is known as obstructive sleep apnea. The other type of sleep apnea is called central sleep apnea and is caused when a malfunction in the main respiratory area of the brain forgets to send a message to the lungs to breath.
Fear of the dentist is one of the most common fears we have. In the UK a recent study found that over 90 per cent of people admitted to having a fear of the dentist. For most people this fear is easily controllable and they are able to weigh up the need for dental treatment against their fears. For other the fear is more severe and can range form anxiety to a full-blown phobia. This can be very upsetting and the cause of many emotional problems, not to mental dental ones.
