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There are quite a lot of home recipes for toothpaste that you could use to try and illuminate bad breath. Here’s one of the more interesting recipes I found in my search

Vanilla & Rose Geranium Toothpaste

Ingredients
½ oz of powered chalk
3 oz of powered orris root
15 drops of rose geranium oil
Runny honey

Recipe
Take all the ingredients and using a pestle and mortar grind all the chalk into a very fine powder. Add the other ingredients and make into a soft paste. Add enough honey to make into a toothpaste consistency.

! Make sure you store you homemade toothpaste some where cool and in an airtight container. When it comes to using the toothpaste take a small stick (something like a tongue depressor) and scoop enough toothpaste out and spread onto a damp toothbrush.

•    The fear of getting bad breath is called Halitophobia
•    It has been reported that some people have commited suicide because of bad breath
•    Most common medical condition
•    In a survey 58% of women and 57% of men stated bad breath as the cause of a romance ending making it the most common reason for the break up of a relationship – apparently women only ranked excessive drinking higher!
•    Chocolate makes your breath worse!
•    50% of adults will suffer from the condition as some point in their lives
•    Apparently Hugh Grant has bad breath.
•    The production of saliva when kissing will help with bad breath, gum disease and tooth decay due to it’s antibacterial properties

Bad breath can be real burden but sometimes your ‘friends’ are just too polite to tell you about it. So here are some sure fire ways of telling if you have bad breath.
1.    Get a small cloth (it has to be dry, unscented and preferably clean as you will be putting it on your tongue!). Stick out your tongue, then rub the vey back part of your tongue for a couple of seconds. Wait for a while then smell the cloth. If it smells bad then you probably have bad breath – I would suggest asking your doctor or dentist about treatment for Halitosis.
2.    Using unwaxed, unscented dental floss, floss a couple of your teeth. Again wait a couple of seconds and smell the floss, if it smells bad you probably have bad breath. This also indicates that you need to floss more!
3.    Use your whole tongue and lick the back of your hand (not the palm), again wait a couple of seconds and smell, if it smells bad your breath probably does too!
Remember – breathing into your hand and smelling it is not a reliable way of testing whether your breath smells!
As stated in other blogs there are simple ways of ridding yourself of bad breath – brush well and regularly, floss and make sure you drink enough water and eat properly! If your bad breath persists there are treatments available.

Holistic Dentistry along with other holistic treatments is becoming more popular.

One of the main ingredients for treatment of diseases such as gum disease and gingivitis is Aloe Vera. Often used in beauty products as it has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. It has detoxifying elements and promotes cell growth. Research has proved that the use of Aloe Vera can speed up the healing process and therefore has great benefits in the dentistry world.

There are a couple areas that the use of Aloe Vera directly can be useful.

•    It is applied the site of surgery in the prevention of Periodontal Disease.

•    If applied to the site of a tooth extraction the wound often responds better with the application of Aloe Vera (it can soothe and comfort dry sockets)

•    Soothes gum abscesses

•    People with dentures and implants can often have aggravated gums due to poorly fitting dentures/implants. This can lead to contamination and inflammation. The use of Aloe Vera can reduce this.

•    Reduces bleeding in gums due to gum disease.

•    Helps with cracked lips and cold sores.

Is whitening your teeth a good or bad idea?
There are conflicting theories on the internet but reading a news article in the Daily Mail Online I seem to sway towards their findings (probably because they aren’t trying to sell me their product!).
The recommended doses of hydrogen peroxide for any home teeth whitening kit, according to this article, shouldn’t be above 0.1%. But on websites selling home kits the doses seem to vary, one claiming it contained just under 6% -

“The proper use of tooth whitening products containing > .1 to 6.0% hydrogen peroxide (or equivalent for hydrogen peroxide releasing substances) is considered safe after consultation with and approval of the consumer’s dentist”  2006 The Scientific Committee on Consumer Products

So what can too much hydrogen peroxide do to your mouth?
•    Cause chemical burns in the mouth
•    Cause sensitive teeth
•    intensify  gum disease
The news article found that the majority of kits contained more than 0.1% except the Boots Expert Teeth Whitening and Brilliant Tooth Whitening Products (which you can buy at pharmacy outlets).
I recommend using your Dentist, or a specialist, at least you know what you’re getting then!

The benefits of flossing can have a really positive increase in your oral hygiene. Flossing daily can reduce the number of bacteria in your mouth. If you don’t floss and chose to leave the tiny food particles in your mouth then the bacteria will have a field day, pretty much having a picnic on your mouth’s left overs. These nasty bacteria then produce acid which will slowly erode your tooth enamel. Also flossing helps to get rid of tartar. Plaque that forms and settles in between your teeth will harden and form plaque. It can only usually be removed by a dentist then. Good tooth brushes can rid your mouth of alot of plaque but not the plaque between the teeth. Good oral hygiene (including flossing) can help with bad breath and other nuisances such as halitosis and bad breath.
Oral B Essential Floss is a good product to go for. It is very reasonably priced at £1.89, is waxed and slides in between the teeth quite easily.

Well this news story certainly made me chuckle. Looking on dentistry websites for tips about bad breath I found a story about an American man who turned up for his dentist appointment naked!!
The man claims that he was sleeping the whole day and doesn’t remember the incident, but he also refused to have his finger prints taken which is a bit suspicious! However the part of the report that made my really giggle was the fact that the news story commented on the fact that the man was already 5 days late for his appointment!
The receptionist identified him by his blue eyes and good tan! Again I find this slightly odd that the receptionist clocked his eyes!

There are many different reasons for having halitosis and many different remedies. Often it can be caused by diet/nutrition and/or medication. Here are a couple of nutrition tips to help you try to deal with it. These are a couple of natural foods that may provide some relief for bad breath.
1.    Plain yogurt helps the levels of hydrogen sulphide in the mouth, lowering the levels
2.    Berries prevent mouth bacteria
3.    Chew on mint (real mint) or Parsley, they release oils to help combat bad breath
4.    Cinnamon
5.    Try nibbling on a mixture of Anise, Cardamom, Coriander and Fennel Seeds.
6.    Try to convert part of your diet into eating raw fruit and veg. Especially things like Apples and Carrots, the high fibre content and the increased level of saliva the mouth produces when eating them is like a home made mouth wash.
7.    Lemon can neutralise the bad smell, try small bites of lemon rind and if you can stand it suck the juice from a lemon slice!
Hope these help some. If you have any tips please feel free to post them.

Aquafresh toothpaste has to be one of the better products on the market. For combination toothpastes that claim to protect against plaque, tooth decay and bad breath, Aquafresh seems to do the trick and at a more reasonable price than other brands. At just 90p in some stores Aquafresh toothpastes don’t seem to be stingy on quality.
The three separate stripes are designed to combat different areas of oral hygiene.
The Red stripe is for fighting plaque, the Blue stripe is for fighting decay and the White stripe is for fresh breath.
Like in previous posts toothpaste only can not combat bad breath, but having a combination toothpaste can go a long way to helping!
The Fresh and Minty Aquafresh has a good taste and texture and doesn’t feel like it’s burning your mouth and it leaves teeth feeling clean but not squeaky.
Check out the website for more products and tips and sites like www.ciao.co.uk for product reviews.

Bad breath is caused by bacteria (producing bad smelling gas) in the mouth. It is not what you had for your lunch – although garlic doesn’t help! And for some reason having bad breath has some sort of bad taboo and not even your closest friends seem to be able to tell you that you have a case of halitosis. And unfortunately, even if you breathe into your hand and sniff it you can’t smell your own breath so you’re stuck really. There are a couple of tips to help you keep your breath fresh.
Although mints and breath fresher will mask smelly breath (and they taste nice) it won’t get rid of the problem.
You need to use a mouth wash instead. These will help to kill the bad smelling germs. There are three different kinds of theories to trying to combat bad breath.
1.    Most generic mouthwashes will kill the germs but not all of them and grow back very quickly, so you are essentially again just making your breath smell nice like eating a mint. Product examples are Listerine
2.    Products such as TheraBreath which is an oxidizer will get rid of bad breath but again cannot stop germs from producing.
3.    Products that use Zinc ion systems can prevent bad breath from coming back. Try SmartMouth.