SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – Noses in our masks all day have us smelling our own breath more often than usual. And that smell, may not be as delightful as we’d like. Suncoast dentists share ways on how to fix this aroma problem.
For some people, it’s coffee breath.
“When we drink coffee, obviously here’s mine, God, you put the mask on and it’s just awful because you are smelling your breath,” Waterside Dental patient, Gretel Perez said.
For others, it’s a wakeup call on their oral hygiene.
“There are some days I don’t brush my teeth and I’ll just wear my Invisalign or I won’t put it in, and I’ll wear my mask, and that’s when I can smell it more often,” Waterside Dental patient, Jesika McNeely said.
And that’s the silver-lining ….
I asked McNeely if she ever noticed her smell before. And she said, “No, I don’t think I ever did.”
… We’re all becoming more aware.
“And it makes sense because of the mask limits the airflow that you have exhaling,” Supreme Smiles of Sarasota Dentist, Dr. Melvin Korattiyil said. “So, therefore, the smell can be noticeable.”
But it’s more than just coffee breath. There may be an underlying problem.
“Your mouth has more bacteria than any other orifice in your body, meaning your nose, your ears, your eyes, you can figure out the rest,” Dr. Michael Childers from Waterside Dental said.
Dr. Childers says you want to prevent tartar from building up. This happens when you don’t floss.
“It’s like a barnacle at the bottom of a ship, you can’t get it off until you scrape it off,” Dr. Childers said. “Once you get the tarter in there and you get the bacteria inside of there, you will never get rid of that taste, that smell, until you do get your teeth cleaned properly.”
Some factors promoting bad breath include:
“Dryness of mouth or lack of saliva flow,” Dr. Korattiyil said. “That can increase the number of bacteria that cause bad breath.”
The solution?
“Increase your water intake, make sure that our mouths aren’t dry,” Dr. Korattiyil said.
The daily routine should be:
“Brush your teeth for two minutes, ideally with an electric or power-type tooth brush, floss everyday, just the teeth you want to keep, and brush your tongue,” Waterside Dental Hygienist, Tracy Amerine said.
“My brushing teeth experience is literally more often than it was way before COVID,” Perez said.
Perez says she’s brushing her teeth four or five times a day.
But if you don’t have time to brush five times a day, the dentists say your quick fix? Listerine strips and sugar-free mints or gum will do the trick. And water, of course.
While you’re smelling your breath more often, Dr. Korattiyil says he still encourages you to wear your mask.
“There are bigger issues at play, so we want to make sure you’re protected,” Dr. Korattiyil said.