Bad breath can be one of the most embarrassing things to experience especially in a social setting. The holy month of Ramadan and various other days in other cultures require people to fast and stay without food and water. The key link in fasting and bad breath is the reduction of saliva. Salivary glands are present in and around your mouth. They get activated when you are about to eat or drink something. Since fasting involves prolonged hours without food and water, saliva production is drastically reduced. This in turn increases the bacterial growth in the mouth leading to foul odor.
How do we reduce bad breath?
Please be aware that during absolute fasting hours there will be some amount of bad breath that you would face.
However this can be drastically reduced by the following measures:
- Just before your fast is about to begin brush and floss your teeth
- Use a tongue scraper to clean the tongue surface
- Drink lots of water during the non fasting hours
- Avoid fried and high salt foods during the non fast hours
- Minimise the intake of caffeinated drinks
- Avoid smoking
- Before your fasting period, Visit your dentist and have professional cleaning done. decayed teeth can also lead to halitosis. So ensure that all your dental work is complete and up to date.