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Motherhood is a wonderful experience. Moms to be ensured to take complete care of their health and put their best effort to maintain pleasant ambiance. But imagine how it would feel like if your own breath is unpleasant?
This can let you down and sometimes even keep your friends away from you when you need them the most. We all love to be surrounded with our friends and family during this important phase of life. Bad breath during pregnancy is not uncommon. However, it can be treated from home with certain methods and home remedies.
Here we will let you know more about bad breath during pregnancy, and the main causes and cures.
What causes bad breath during pregnancy?
There are several factors that cause malodor in the mouth during pregnancy. Let us look into some of the reasons that can cause offensive breath when carrying:
Hormonal changes: During these days, the mother’s body experience a rapid fluctuation in the level of progesterone and estrogen. This can cause your teeth to develop additional plaque. Consequently, more bacteria invade in mouth and teeth which might cause halitosis and gum disease giving out malodor.
Morning sickness: This symptom is common among mothers to be. Most of the pregnant women suffer from nausea and vomiting during the 6th to 12th week. This results in bad breath. During vomiting, stomach acids and undigested food leave an unpleasant odor in the mouth giving out offensive breath.
Helpful tip: Brushing teeth and rinsing mouth with a good mouthwash after vomiting helps to clean and freshen up your mouth.
Calcium Deficiencies: As per doctor’s advice, carrying women require extra calcium to support their body and growing fetus. Calcium deficiency can deteriorate bones and teeth. Chipped and broken teeth can provide an ideal place for bacterial growth in the mouth and produce malodor.
Helpful tip: Pregnant women are recommended to have extra calcium by consuming calcium-rich foods.
Dehydration: It is always required to stay hydrated and drink more water to meet the need of body and growing fetus. When the required level of water intake is not meet, the body gets dehydrated and mouth turns dry. Dry mouth is one of the major factors for bad bread as it creates grounds for bacterial growth.
Helpful tip: Make sure to drink plenty of plain water to keep your body well hydrated throughout the day and prevent dry mouth.
Lifestyle alterations: It is natural to have certain food cravings and late night snack craving during this period. Hence, it is important to take extra care of your oral hygiene. Salty snacks and sweet foods can increase the risk of tooth decay.
Helpful tip: Rinse mouth well after you are done with your snacks. Make sure to visit a dentist every six months.
Remedy for bad breath during pregnancy?
Bad breath during pregnancy can be treated by following some methods and taking good care of oral hygiene. Brushing at least twice a day and flossing regularly keeps your mouth clean. But sometimes even brushing is not adequate to completely get rid of mouth germs.
See also: How to get rid of bad breath: 12 easy ways
Mouthwashes are best way to clean out the germs that your toothbrush cannot. Since mouth rinse can easily seep into every nook and corner of your mouth, between teeth, above and below the tongue, it helps to completely rinse out bacteria from hard to reach corners of the mouth. Here are some of the dental care products that you can consider for complete oral hygiene.
Here are some other products that we suggest:
: This dentist recommended toothpaste effectively fights bad breath causing germs, strengthens teeth, prevents tooth decay and gives fresh breath. Artificial flavors can aggravate morning sickness during pregnancy. The best part is it is free from any foaming agents, artificial flavors and colors. Hence even carrying women with morning sickness can easily use this toothpaste. Therabreath Plus Fresh Breath Toothpaste is available in 2 packs of 4 ounces each. Brush twice a day with this product to prevent bad breath.
Follow up with this mouthwash after brushing your teeth to remove those germs from hard to reach corners of mouth. The mouth rinse is non-acidic gluten-free, certified vegan, free from any artificial colors and flavors. It helps to neutralize the sulfur producing germs and remove even the toughest of food odors.
Helpful tip: You can also rinse your mouth with TheraBreath Plus after vomiting to remove food odors and get a long-lasting fresh breath.
More home remedies to treat bad breath
Baking soda: Sprinkle baking soda and salt on your toothpaste before brushing. Baking soda has the property to suck offensive odor and neutralize bacterial acids to prevent bad breath. It also acts as a gentle scrub on your teeth for better cleaning.
Lemon: Squeeze one fresh lemon into a cup of luke warm water and add a pinch of salt. Rinse your mouth with this water to neutralize the acids in your mouth, remove germs and odor. The sweet smell of lemon also helps to alleviate morning sickness and leave your mouth smelling good and fresh for a long time.
Cloves: Place one clove in your mouth whenever experience nausea tendency. The essential oils of this spice helps to alleviate nausea, kill bad breath causing bacteria and give fresh breath.
Note: Cloves are very potent spices hence it is advisable not to take more than one clove a day.
Scrape tongue: Most of the bad breath causing germs are present on the tongue. Hence make sure to scrape your tongue after every brushing session to remove bacteria and any traces of food left on your tongue. Use a gentle tongue scraper and clean your tongue gently several times.
I’ve a post about home remedies for bad breath, where I talk in details about this.
Bad breath during pregnancy is not a disease and can be cured with proper measures and extra oral hygiene. Just as other parts of your body, your mouth also needs special care during this pregnancy. Whatever you eat, it first enters into your mouth before reaching the stomach. Hence, it is important to maintain a clean mouth for the nourishment of your body and your growing child.