Bad breath in children

What causes bad breath in children?

Children often suffer from bad breath, and unlike adults its very rarely due to eating too many onions or garlic!

Morning Breath

In the daytime, saliva swishes around the mouth washing away any food particles and debris. When the child is asleep, the amount of saliva falls and the debris is no longer washed away. The bacteria in the mouth 'feed' on these tiny particals and release sulphurous gases, causing 'morning breath'.

Mouth Breathing

Bad breath in children may be a result of mouth breathing. Breathing through the mouth may dry the mouth out, leaving insufficient saliva to wash away any debris that may be present.

Mouth breathing may be a sign of an underlying problem, eg a cold, sinus infection, allergies or enlarged tonsils.

Thumb sucking, or sucking on a blanket may also lead to mouth breathing.

Toothbrush Technique

For any bad breath problem, oral hygiene has always got to be considered.

Try to encourage brushing after every meal - not always possible!

Use a timer eg an egg timer, to make sure the teeth are brushed for at least 2 minutes. Most children under-estimate 2 minutes, and brush for 30-40 seconds.

Gently, intoduce tongue brushing.  

Most children find it hard not to swallow mouthwashes at first. So 'practice' with a glass of water - when the child can rinse and spit out the water, it may be safe to use a mouthwash. I would recommend diluting the mouthwash with water at fist 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 as mouthwashes can have a very strong taste. Also make sure the mouthwash is alcohol-free! 

Foreign Objects

Children often push things up nose, and then forget about them.

Its not uncommon for doctors to find crayons, small toys, peas, sweetcorn... the list is endless!

Not only will a blocked nose lead to mouth breathing (above), but the rotting food will give off its own bad odours!

Visit the Dentist

Make dental check ups a regular event.

Firstly, any problems will be spotted and treated at the early stages.

And your child will get used to sitting in the chair and having a pain-free dental examination. No child will like the dentist if their first experience was injections, fillings and pain.

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