Dry Mouth
is a common trigger for bad breath. Dry mouth can increase mouth acid and also deprive the mouth of oxygen. This in turn will degrade the quality of saliva you produce and then finally cause an increase of the anaerobic bacteria that cause the halitosis problem. Oxygen deprivation could also be one of the reasons that halitosis patients have a low concentration of S.salivarius (an aerobic bacteria that is predominate in the mouths of people with fresh breath and has been shown to buffer bad breath). Dry mouth is a very complex issue and can be caused by factors such as alcohol or ethanol based mouthwash, most prescription medicines, many "over the counter" medicines, binge dieting, fad dieting (Atkins diet), binge eating, infrequent eating, smoking, consumption of diet drinks (contain acid), consumption of processed fruit juice or soft drinks (contain sugar). Finally stress is also a very big factor in dry mouth. Dr Speiser's Australian Breath Clinic has many products designed to minimise the damage of dry mouth, as well as alleviate the problem.

Post Nasal Drip
is probably the next biggest cause of bad breath. Funnily enough a lot of people do not realise they have a PND problem, but when quizzed further they report signs such as blocked or crackling ear drums, occasional dizziness or balance loss, feeling of a lump in the throat (mucus collection), hoarseness of voice etc. Post Nasal Drip means you are making excess nasal mucus that then gathers in the nasal and sinus areas and may drip to the throat area. This mucus is high in protein and therefore an excellent food source for bad breath bacteria. PND can be made worse by a person's environment and allergy status. PND is also heightened by consumption of dairy products, as dairy tends to act as a thickener of nasal mucus. Remember that constant clearing of your throat, or the feeling of a lump in the throat are signs that you are collecting phlegm and mucus and therefore promoting anaerobic bacteria growth.

Dr Speiser's Australian Breath Clinic has a range of nasal sprays that will help to clean mucus and phlegm for the nasal passages and throat. However if your problem is severe we may recommend that you see an ENT doctor for further treatment.

Stress
has a lot to do with bad breath. When you are undergoing “Stress”, it is part of your parasympathetic nervous system, of which you have no control (such as breathing or your heart beat). The fact is that when you are under stress – your mouth gets dry, and your breath gets worse. It’s sort of like when you are sitting in a large lecture hall, and out of nowhere, you are asked to speak to the crowd…your mouth starts to get dry…. and you are unable to speak because you have little or no saliva. This can lead to bad breath instantly. Of course we cannot avoid stress easily, especially if our personality is prone to stress or our job is a stressful one. What becomes essential is that our mouth should be as free of the bad breath bacteria as possible, so that when a stressful event happens we will have less of a problem.