Myth Buster

MYTH: Mouthwash can help with bad breath.  

BUSTED:  “It depends on where the bad breath is coming from. It can come from the mouth or the bad breath can originate from the deeper part of the body like from the stomach or the oesophagus. If it comes from the mouth then you can use mouthwash to alleviate the bad breath. However, when it originates from a deeper part of the body, mouthwash doesn’t help.   When you have cavities, severe gum disease with bleeding, infections in the wisdom tooth, wounds or ulcers in your mouth, coating or depositions on your tongue, infections on your salivary glands etc. you can bring about bad breath.

These are the causes inside the mouth. Apart from this if you have a sort of infection or diseases in your stomach or the food tract or when you have chronic vomiting, you can get bad breath.” explained Dr. Vipula Wickramasinghe, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Dental Association and Regional Dental Surgeon of the Colombo District