It's hard to do (All personal problems are hard to address) but try and be courageous and ask a close friend, preferably a partner with whom you are intimate, better still we highly recommend the tanita breath tester to accurately monitor such levels. They will normally give you an honest answer, providing you phrase the question correctly.

People may be unaware that they have halitosis, or think they have a problem when they don't. The best way to check is to ask a family member or close friend for their opinion. Alternatively lick your wrist, starting from the back of the tongue to the tip. Allow the saliva to dry for 10 seconds and then smell the area for any unpleasant odours.

Halitosis is caused by a variety of factors, including periodontal disease smoking, oral infections, poor home care, digestive problems, dry mouth and some systemic diseases. We carefully examine anyone with halitosis to determine the cause so that we can treat it properly.

The truth is that it is extremely difficult to judge this individually. You may be aware if your halitosis (bad breath) becomes severe.

If you notice people seem to draw away from you in conversation or if a partner seems reluctant to want to kiss you, then you may have a problem!

The degree of severity does depend on the cause. If you have long standing, untreated gum disease, then probably your halitosis will vary from severe to very socially unacceptable. Milder forms of gum disease (Gingivitis) may cause very few episodes of obvious halitosis. If you allow your mouth to dry (which is almost unavoidable during sleep) then halitosis tends to worsen. Some medications will also cause dryness of mouth (e.g. antidepressants, duretics).

Absolutely YES! Most bad breath can be treated and then prevented by understanding the causes and then applying thorough and scrupulous methods of cleaning round the mouth. Click here to find out about our Fresh Breath Kit. It is also wise to consult a dentist directly for advice about any dental cause of halitosis, particularly established gum disease (Periodontal disease) or decayed (Carious) teeth.

Bad breath is not contagious. It is caused by common body bacteria breaking down proteins in the mouth for metabolism. You cannot cough on someone and give them bad breath. However, it is certainly possible to transfer bacteria to another person by kissing them. But these bacteria would need to be transferred to a receptive bad breath environment. In other words, quite possibly you already have bad breath and did not realise it.

Bad Breath bacteria live all through the mouth, throat and nasal areas, as well as the gums. Therefore people that floss infrequently will have a buildup of these smelly anaerobic bacteria and their sulphur compounds trapped in the biofilm below the gums. But this amount of gum bacteria is not enough to cause bad breath, but rather a bad taste. Bad breath needs to come from a larger source of bacteria (that collected on the back of the tongue and throat).

I don't know of any home products that can rid you of bad breath. What is known is that people that are fit and healthy suffer less from bad breath. This could be that their metabolism is in balance and does not allow the anaerobic bacteria to get out of hand. People that are mobile and active have less problems. People that do not go on high protein fad diets, or protein shakes have less bad breath problems. People that do not need to take medicines are better off as they do not get dry mouth.

That depends on what is causing it. Often, bad breath results from less-than-optimal oral health, and sometimes people are not aware that they are not performing oral hygiene as effectively as they could be. A dental hygienist or dentist will be able to evaluate your oral health procedures and make recommendations for improvement; also, these professionals will be able to recognize any associated problems that might be contributing to an unpleasant mouth odor.

Bad breath is an indicator of the production of ketones as you burn body fat and is a good sign that the diet is working. To combat it, you may use chlorophyll (must be sugarless), eat more parsley and dark green, leafy vegetables, and be sure that your water intake is at least 8 or more glasses daily. It's not uncommon for cholesterol to rise in the beginning. When a person loses weight, cholesterol usually rises because the body must break down stored fat for energy.