Biotene for Dry Mouth Bad Breath

Biotene for Dry Mouth Bad Breath

I just visited my dentist for my regular 6 month check up. He has been aware that I had chemo and radiation treatment 5 years ago. And he was the first physician to inform me (after my treatment) that those chemicals used for my treatment can cause dry mouth which can lead to bad breath halitosis....ugh! After I have spent my whole life fighting it, it now is a permanent part of my physical condition, brought on by the treatment of my cancer!

The good news is that there are Biotene products that can help me fight it.

What do I need to know about Dry Mouth?

Everyone has a dry mouth once in a while - if they are nervous, upset or under stress. Your saliva also naturally decreases at night which can allow the growth of harmful bacteria and plaque.

But if you have dry mouth all, or most of the time, it can be uncomfortable and can lead to serious health problems.

Symptoms Include?

• a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth
• problems with chewing, swallowing, tasting, or speaking
• halitosis/mouth odor
• a burning feeling in the mouth
• cracked lips
• a dry, irritated tongue
• mouth sores
• sleep interruptions due to thirst
• gum inflammation or infection in the mouth
• difficultly in wearing dentures/prosthesis

Non Oral Symptoms:

• dry throat
• dry nose
• changes in sense of smell
• heartburn
• dry or burning eyes
• constipation
• dry skin/scalp
• vaginal itching, dryness, history of fungal infections
• breathes through the mouth

What Causes Dry Mouth?

People get dry mouth when the glands in the mouth that make saliva are not working properly. Because of this, there might not be enough saliva to keep your mouth wet. There are several reasons why these your salivary glands might not work.

Examples:

• Side effects of medication. More than 400 medications can cause the salivary glands to make less saliva. As you get older, you tend to take more and more medications such as those for high blood pressure and depression.
• Disease. Some diseases affect the salivary glands. Sjogren's Syndrome, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease can all cause dry mouth.
• Radiation therapy. The saliva glands can be damaged if they are exposed to radiation during cancer treatment.
• Chemotherapy. Drugs used to treat cancer can make the saliva thicker, causing the mouth to feel dry and also causing difficulties in speaking.
• Nerve damage. Injury to the head or neck can damage the nerves that tell salivary glands to make saliva.

Some people feel a dry mouth even if their salivary glands are working correctly. People with certain disorders, like Alzheimer's disease or those who have suffered a stroke, may not be able to feel wetness in their mouth and complain about a dry mouth.

Tips for Managing Dry Mouth

• If your dry mouth is caused by medicine, your physician might change your medicine or adjust the dose.
• Visit your dentist regularly for prophylatic maintenance. Request fluoride treatments.
• Maintain meticulous oral hygiene using SLS-free, fluoridated (Biotène Toothpaste)
• Moisten your mouth with Oralbalance. May be used under dental prostheses.
• Chew sugarless, enzymatic moisturing gum, Biotène Dental Gum.
• Avoid alcoholic, carbonated, citrus and caffeine-containing drinks.
• Apply lip lubricants or balms as required.
• Drink liquids with meals and use gravies, sauces, yogurt, broth, margarines, and mayonnaise to make food easier to swallow
• Puree foods or try soft foods like macaroni and cheese, stews, mashed potatoes, soup, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, yogurt and ice cream.
• Avoid dry foods such as cookies, toast and crackers, or soften them with liquids before eating.
• Carry a small water bottle so you can take frequent sips during the day.
• Suck sugarless hard candies (avoiding those with citric acid).
• Avoid overly salty foods.
• Avoid chewable vitamin C and acidic, sugared lozenges.

Click here for more information on how to treat bad breath.

Biotene for Dry Mouth Bad Breath

New Email Update for my Bad Breath to Fresh Breath Blog

New Email Update for my Bad Breath to Fresh Breath Blog

How exciting! Everyday, I find new tools to help me keep me close to you. I just found this great tool thatautomatically turns my Alexa's Bad Breath to Fresh Breath Blog into an email in your inbox. That means that every time I update, you get the information in email.

This works great because not everyone understands RSS, Atom and XML. Only a fraction of US Internet users knowingly use RSS subscriptions and know what it is. If I don't provide an alternative mechanism for users to subscribe to my content, I could be missing out on reaching over 80% of my potential audience.

I inserted the form at the top right side of the blog (just over there-->). All you have to do is insert your name and hit the subscribe button. The tool is powered by a company called Feedblitz. They have a comprehensive privacy policy that is strictly adhered to.

I love finding tools that help me keep my information current and to keep in constant contact. This is why I love what I do! I hope you love it too!

New Email Update for my Bad Breath to Fresh Breath Blog

Bad Breath Symptoms

Bad Breath Symptoms


This may sound like a "no brainer" because you may think that bad breath is obvious to the person who has bad breath. That is not necessarily the case.

You may have cupped your hands and blown into them to try and determine if your breath smells, but that does not work because your body will naturally acclimatize to its own odor. This is necessary so that the sensory system will recognize odors that are external to the body.

If this is the case, then you need to look at external symptoms:

• Do you experience nasal drip?
• Do you have allergies?
• Do you have a chronic dry mouth?
• Do you experience a sour taste in your mouth?
• Do you have a coating on your tongue?
• Do your friends offer you gum or breath mints?
• Do strangers turn their heads away when you speak?
  

These may sound very basic questions but if you answered yes to any of them there is a good probability that you have a problem with bad breath. If you answered any of them with "I don't know," you need to become pro-active and observe if any of the conditions apply to your situation.

Stay with me. Let's review the main points that we have discussed.

1. You have an overview of bad breath where we discussed the definition of halitosis bad breath
2. You have a list of common causes of bad breath
3. You now have a list of common symptoms of bad breath
4. And you have all of my rantings in between

So now we can move forward in our discussions on preventing bad breath halitosis. Is it really possible? Depends on how much you are willing to change your lifestyle and choices.

If you have any questions about bad breath symptoms, please do not hesitate to post your comments below or visit my website www.cure-badbreath.com

Bad Breath Cause|Cause of Bad Breath - Part 2 of 2

Bad Breath Cause /Cause of Bad Breath
Part 2 of 2 (F-Z)

Here is my final entry of causes of bad breath. Once we understand the various causes, we can identify the symptoms and the treatment.

Food or beverages.
I will devote a whole section on this in another blog.

Foreign body in the nose.
Do you have small children that like to put in their nose? This is a situation that requires immediate treatment to prevent serious consequences.

Gum disease/Gingivitis.
This is inflammation of the soft tissue surrounding the teeth. This condition is much more serious than an abscess. Gingivitis is the precursor to periodontitis which is extreme gum disease that can ultimately lead to tooth loss.

Hepatic encephalopathy.
This is a rare but possible cause as a result of liver disease.

Impacted tooth.
An impacted tooth is one that is prevented from reaching their proper position by tissue, bone or another tooth. It often results in infection, which we know is another cause of bad breath.

Periodontal disease.
A poll in 2000 determined that 60% of adults over 35 knew little or nothing about gum disease! A tragedy when you consider that gum disease is the leading factor in tooth loss, even healthy teeth.

Your teeth can appear to be healthy and disease free, when under the surface gum disease can stalwartly march on creating a condition that will ultimately lead to serious tooth loss. Bad breath is a “red flag” to help determine if this problem is prevalent in your mouth.

Healthy gum tissue forms a shallow groove at the point where the tooth meets the gum line. This disease occurs when the anaerobic, sulfur producing bacteria we discussed earlier, become trapped beneath the gum line.

This is a perfect breeding ground for the bacteria and they will settle in and take residence.
Not recognizing and dealing with the problem will result in serious dental problems up to and including loss of teeth and even underlying bone disease.

Pharyngitis.
This is an inflammation in the area at the back of the mouth known as the Pharynx as usually occurs because of a virus.

This is the same area where you begin to feel a slight “scratchiness” at the onset of a cold or flu. The bacteria involved can lead to more serious streptococcus, commonly known as “strep throat.” If it progresses it can be highly contagious and because it is bacterial it will produce bad breath.

Poor dental hygiene.
We have discussed some of the leading causes of bad breath, but nothing matches poor dental hygiene as a leading cause of bad breath.

Lack of brushing, flossing and regular checkups are the most important weapon for ridding oneself of bad breath and preventing more serious conditions from developing.

Sinusitis.
This is an inflammation of the sinuses, with or without pus and can cause a terribel taste in the mouth in addition to bad breath.

Tobacco smoking.
Tobacco smoking encourages growth of bacteria by drying the mouth. As we discussed in the previous blog, dry mouth is one of the leading causes of bad breath.

Zenker's diverticulum.
This is not a “common” cause, but does exist and can be very serious if not treated. It involves the perforation of the esophageal mucous membrane and does cause bad breath.

Bad Breath Cause|Cause of Bad Breath - Part 1 of 2

Bad Breath Cause / Cause of Bad Breath

Part 1 of 2 (A thru D)

I will try to provide a thorough understanding for all the possible reasons why bad breath replaces normal fresh breath. This list is fairly inclusive so I will break this into multiple parts...

Abscessed tooth.
Infection of the tissue surrounding a tooth that usually fills with pus which has a very smelly odor.

Alcoholism.
Immoderate use of alcohol causes decreased production of saliva causing dryness of the mouth. Dry mouth is a leading cause of bad breath.

Atrophic rhinitis.
This is an inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane usually a result of nasal drip due to colds or sinusitis.

Cancers.
Cancers such as esophageal, pharyngeal, oral tumors, leukemia, pulmonary and stomach cancer all present severe bad breath due to the decay that is taking place. Additionally, the medical treatments for these cancers, such as chemotherapy and radiation can exacerbate bad breath both during and after treatment is finished. (Having personally gone thru this, I will dedicate a blog to this in the future).

Oral Candida.
This is a fungal infection of the mouth cavity. Also known as thrush, it is fairly common among infants, diabetics, chemotherapy patients and people with HIV or AIDS.

Cavities.
These holes in the outer two layers of a tooth contain decay which in turn produces bad breath.

Dentures.
Dentures are prosthetic replacements for natural teeth and are just as susceptible to the build up of plaque which causes bad breath. Denture wearers also have a tendency toward dry mouth which also increases the risk of bad breath.

Diabetes.
People who have diabetes may also have bad breath. This occurs because of poor control of blood sugar, the problem with most diabetics. Gum disease is a problem for diabetics. And, diabetes is a problem for people with gum disease.

It can be difficult to determine which comes first, the diabetes or the gum disease, but the underlying problem is clear. High blood sugar contributes to gum disease. Diabetics have trouble controlling the high blood sugar. Gum disease is a leading cause of bad breath, hence the correlation.

The American Dental Association reports that people with type 1 diabetes 5 are at greater risk for gingivitis.

Drugs.
Certain drugs such as antihistamines, antidepressants, blood pressure meds, steroids, cancer therapy drugs, diuretics and oral contraceptives are all known to increase the propensity for bad breath as well as an increased risk for gum disease.

Dry mouth.
Sounds like such an innocent little phrase, doesn’t it? Thought to be a leading cause of bad breath, dry mouth occurs when saliva production is reduced and carries its own nasty little package of problems.

The medical term for dry mouth is “xerostomia” (pronounced ZEER-oh-STOH-mee-ah). Saliva performs vital work in your body. It aids in digestion by using the enzymes to help break up different foods and also makes it easier to talk.

You may not realize that it can also help to prevent tooth decay by rinsing away food particles from between the teeth as well as the gums. Saliva also helps you taste the food you eat and makes it easier for you to swallow that food. It is also known for neutralizing any damaging acids.

It is believed to be caused primarily by certain medications which we listed in the previous paragraph. The symptoms of dry mouth can include:

· Dry, rough tongue
· Poor sense of taste
· Burning sensation in your mouth
· Increased plaque
· Reduced saliva production

Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS and stroke are also attributed to causing dry mouth as well as pregnancy and/or hormonal changes due to menopause.

Increasing fluid intake can help to re-hydrate the mouth. It’s important to keep it moist so you don’t lose all the benefits provided by saliva production.

Enough? Just reviewing the A thru D list above, I have experienced at least 3 causes of bad breath in my lifetime. Boy, I wonder what the rest of the list holds for me? And how about you?

I am sure now it is easy to see that bad breath really is a common issue and no one should feel embarrassed or ashamed of this condition.

My next entry will include more from the list of bad breath causes.

Have a great day!

Alexa Peters

Bad Breath Expert - Dr. Harold Katz

Bad Breath Expert - Dr. Harold Katz

There are quite a few folks running around claiming to have the solution or remedy for bad breath. You really need to make sure that they have some credentials and/or experience in this area.

Personally, I have an interest because I have had to fight it for so many years. But I do not claim to be an expert! I just act as a facilitator so that you can find information and products.

One of the experts that I have found is Dr. Harold Katz. He has written an amazing book about bad breath especially for those of us not in the medical or dental field. He breaks the information into understandable bites and provides some recommendations and solutions that I think are pretty noteworthy.

I have a link on my site where you can download his book for FREE. Just click on the link and scroll down just a bit : Bad Breath Treatment

From time to time, I will review experts in the treatment of bad breath.

Ok, in my next entry, we will get back to the education of all the causes of bad breath. If you need to find information right away (like today). Click on the link and it will take you to my website where I have gathered a wealth of information: Causes of Bad Breath.

Have a great day!

Alexa

Bad Breath Expert - Harold Katz

My Secret Weapon For Treating Bad Breath

Hi There! I love Fridays. And I especially love Fridays in the springtime!

What is your fresh breath practice? How do you fight bad breath?


Here is my secret weapon to fight bad breath: Water - lots of it. Keep lots of it in your car, desk, and bedside. Instead of reaching for a

sweetened drink which WILL cause a negative chemical reaction with the bacteria in your mouth - see my previous entry - reach for a glass or bottle of water. Not only will it help you in keeping your mouth fresh, but your skin and internal organs will love you for it!

Sure there are lots of other products on the market that are also helpful and eventually, we will discuss them here. Or you can visit my cure-badbreath.com website and see them now. But I want you to understand the importance in drinking water in your treatment for bad breath.

Have a great weekend!

Alexa

So What is Bad Breath Anyway?

When we understand what bad breath is, we can begin to explore how it effects us and how we can actually treat and cure it.

Bad breath or halitosis is the side effect of the certain bacteria that lives in the mouth, on the tongue and tonsils. We all have these bacteria in our mouth. And these bacteria remain inactive until some action in their environment cause them to change.

When the bacteria reactes to changes in their environment produce chemical compounds. And these compounds smell and taste terrible.

Quite simple when you understand it, right? It is the change the causes bad breath. And now that we understand what bad breath is, we can now understand why there is no generic cause or treatment.

In my next post, I want to provide a thorough understnading of the causes and symptoms of bad breath.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

How to manage an employee's bad breath

When I saw this, I realized that I wanted to post this for your comments. I have been on both sides of this discussion. However, when it is your boss telling you that you have bad breath, what can you say? Or when you are the boss and you need to speak with someone because of first-hand experience or another employee's complaint about bad breath, how would you feel.

Please read the link below. And let me know what you think. Would you advise the same or something else. Let us know.

Here's how to manage employee's bad breath syndicated by
SunHerald.com, MS - Apr 30, 2006 By Marie G. McIntyre.

Bad Breath Overview

Everyone (adults, children and pets) has an occasional problem with bad breath which is why so much money is spent on products to freshen the breath - pills, mouthwash, breath mints, toothpase and more. Just take a walk down the personal care aisle of any drug store or grocery store and you will find product after product all dealing with this condition.

My discussions on this blog will address these as well as the other serious sides of bad breath. Bad breath can be resistant to normal over the counter remedies. And that is what we will address. I will employ my own opinios, published research findings, leading experts, and anything else I can get my hands on.

As always, I welcome your feedback and comments.

Alexa