Has your child visited a kids dentist lately? If their breath is starting to smell, this may be an indication that it is time to come in. While most bad breath jokes tend to focus on last night’s garlic fries, bad breath can actually be a direct reflection of a person’s health. It can symbolize a physical infection like a fever or the flu or be directly related to the health of your mouth. For example, a tooth infection will emit a strong-smelling foul odor. With this in mind, we encourage our patients to pay attention to how their child’s breath smells and call our office if it is smelling worse than normal or getting progressively worse. This may allow us to detect health issues early and provide treatment before it causes them discomfort.
Gum disease. This is a common condition that impacts most people at some point in their lifetime. Both you and your children can suffer from it. In its earliest of stages, it may cause some irritation but nothing too severe. Instead, they may have gums that are red, swollen, or bleed slightly when brushing. We prefer to identify and treat the condition early and can do so by performing a deep cleaning. In this case, any plaque and tartar that has built up under the surface of the gums will need to be removed. Once it is, their gums should return to good health. In severe cases where the gum disease isn’t treated issues can arise like gum recession. In this instance, pockets will form in the gum tissue. Typically, bacteria and plaque will gather there, and as acid attacks the tooth, bone loss and eventual tooth loss may occur.
Infections. If you or your child’s tooth becomes infected, it may start to emit a strong odor. Very often, there will be additional signs of an infection such as sensitivity when they bite down or a toothache. We prefer to catch the infection and treat it before it causes them any discomfort so if you notice that their breath is smelling persistently bad, give us a call. In our kids dentist office, we can remove the infected area before restoring the shape and functionality of the tooth. This way their mouth can remain in good health and their breath will also smell better.
Plaque and tartar. There are certain places in the mouth that are too difficult to reach with regular brushing and flossing at home. Despite your best efforts, you may not be able to remove plaque from some locations. When we perform a professional teeth cleaning, we can reach all of these areas and remove the plaque and bacteria that has built up in their mouth over time. Doing so, will typically make their breath smell much better, especially if they are not an avid flosser at home.
In addition to visiting our kids dentist office, you can improve their breath at home by using a tongue scraper in addition to brushing three times a day and flossing. You can also have them rinse with an antiseptic mouthwash and drink plenty of water in order to improve their breath.