And is to alert to the problem which reaches more than 50 million Brazilian people that Associação Brasileira de Estudos e Pesquisas dos Odores da Boca (ABPO) created a special date in the calendar: September 22nd, National Bad Breath Combat Day.
The date was instituted by the entity five years ago to talk about prevention and also campaigns and researches on halitosis, which is already seen as a serious social problem, as many times it causes the isolation of the patient, who can have his/her social and professional life damaged.
The greatest problem is that people with bad breath are always the last ones to find out. This because the cells responsible by smell quickly adapt to the constant odor, rendering its perception difficult. The good news is that bad breath is not a disease and has a cure. According to ABPO, the great majority of the cases are originated in the mouth and not the stomach, as many people believe.
The saliva production reduction, the lack of water and the existence of tongue coating, a whitish or yellowish bacterial plate which is located in the bottom of the tongue, are among the main causes of the problem.
Halitosis is a signal that something in the body is unbalanced and must be identified and treated. There are more than causes and approximately 90% of the cases are originated in the mouth. It can have a physiologic origin (morning breath, prolonged fasting, inappropriate diets), local reasons (poor oral hygiene, bacterial plates retained on the tongue or tonsils, low saliva production, gum diseases), or even systemic reasons (diabetes, kidneys or hepatic problems, constipation and others).
As the smell sense quickly adjusts to any constant odor, the halitosis patient gets used to his/her own breath, and is not capable to perceive the problem.
The best way is to ask someone you fully trust if your breath is altered or uses to be string, in different times. In addition, there are qualified professionals who have specific devices to measure your breath.
Yes. There are specialized professionals who can solve this problem, however, the patient has an essential role on the results maintenance.
In addition to the general patient's health, bad breath can cause social, affective and even professional constraints, with an important emotional damage in many patients. The person with halitosis suffers a great discrimination in his/her environment.
The correct brushing and the use of the cleaner (for sale in pharmacies) are two simple and effective measures to clean the tongue from the bacterial dirty, known as tongue coating, and eliminating bad breath. If even then the problem continues, then the cause may not be in the mouth and it is recommended to look for a specialist.
On the ABPO site (www.abpo.com.br) you can visit Click Bad Breath, a free service in which it is possible to warn people who have the problem without embarrassments. The association will be the one to contact the person to provide orientations, in a delicate and ethic manner, on the best way to solve the problem.
