How to Get Rid of Coffee Breath
How do you take your coffee? Hot or cold? Black, with extra sugar and almond milk, or a uniquely crafted cup?
Fresh coffee has a strong, tempting taste, and your cup can be customized to your personal preferences, which is one of the key reasons so many people like to drink it. It’s also readily available just about everywhere, from locally owned shops to gas stations to fast-food restaurants. Your bank may even brew a pot for customers to enjoy while they wait for assistance.
No matter how you drink it, you’re going to experience one of its negative lingering effects — and we don’t mean the burst of energy from caffeine, because decaffeinated coffee causes the same outcome. We’re talking about coffee breath.
Coffee breath is what turns your favorite cup of joe into a cup of “oh no!” If you can still taste your drink even after you’ve finished it, then everyone you talk to will likely be able to smell it on your breath.
Instead of denying yourself a cup, let’s take a moment to learn how to deal with and get rid of coffee breath.
Why does coffee cause bad breath?
Many of the foods we eat and beverages we drink can linger and cause bad breath. Espresso is particularly intense and can linger for a long time, but you’re not any safer with a run-of-the-mill dark roast. It, too, can stick around. And with it, coffee breath.
Coffee, in all its forms, is a prime bad-breath offender for a few reasons.
The caffeine in coffee causes xerostomia, or dry mouth.
From a scientific perspective, caffeine will dry out your mouth and reduce saliva production. Germs and bacteria are naturally found in the mouth, but when saliva isn’t there to wash those germs and bacteria away, they will grow unchecked and feed on the food particles that also become stuck.
Most people drink coffee after they’ve brushed their teeth.
Since most people brush their teeth twice a day at most, it’s usually done first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. That means most of what you eat and drink during the day can stay on your teeth and gums.
Add-ins like milk and sugar can trigger a growth of bacteria in your mouth.
If you’re not a coffee purist, chances are you add some milk, cream, or sugar to your coffee. Unfortunately, the sugars in milk and sweeteners can cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the mouth. When naturally occurring bacteria in the mouth consume protein particles, they release waste in the form of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). VSCs are simply another name for sulfur gas, and they are what we perceive as bad breath or halitosis. That means that when you have bad breath, you’re spewing sulfur gas into the air.
Not only that, but the high acidity of coffee lowers the pH level in your mouth and encourages even more bacteria to grow!
And then there’s the sulfur. What do you think of when you hear the word sulfur? Rotten eggs? Sewer gas? Nothing pleasant: In short, things that smell rotten.
The bad news is coffee can be sulfurous, and therefore stinky. The longer it stays on your teeth and gums, the more sulfur that is produced as the germs and bacteria go to town doing what they do, which is consuming protein, releasing more sulfur gas, and causing bad breath.
How to Stop Coffee Breath
To solve your bad coffee breath, you don’t have to sacrifice your daily coffee. There are several ways to get rid of coffee breath. Just add one or many of these tips to your daily schedule:
- Brush with fluoride toothpaste.
- Floss carefully between your teeth.
- Use an alcohol-free mouthwash.
- Drink water. This keeps your mouth from going dry and can also wash away leftover food, acids, and other particles from between your teeth and gums.
- Switch to green tea. According to an article in the Archives of Oral Biology, green tea extract
helps remove the sulfur produced by tooth decay. It also helps stimulate your saliva production. - Eat yogurt as part of your morning routine. Researchers have found that yogurt has good bacteria that can help decrease the smelly bacteria
Good health and oral hygiene practices like drinking more water, eating nutritious foods, and brushing your teeth go a long way toward minimizing coffee bad breath. Even so, you’re putting a band aid on the problem: You could spend all day using these practices to fight bad breath.
How Can SmartMouth Eliminate Bad Breath?
The key to truly eliminating coffee breath — or bad breath in general? Zinc ions.
Zinc has a number of benefits. You may have heard it can stop a cold; in fact, it’s an ingredient in many cold-relief products because it can help reduce the impact of a cold
To combat halitosis, otherwise known as bad breath, we need zinc ions. They not only have the power to get rid of sulfur gas, but they also block bacteria from producing more sulfur gas. The bacteria continue to do their thing, but without the unpleasant smell.
While you can find regular zinc in a few products, only SmartMouth Activated Oral Rinse has clinically proven zinc ion technology that eliminates and prevents sulfur gas for 12 hours per rinse. When you use it once in the morning and once again before bed, SmartMouth’s mouthwash can stop bad breathfor a full 24
hours*.
SmartMouth Activated Oral Rinse has a unique two-liquid formula: The Sulfur Eliminating* Solution, which destroys sulfur gases, and the zinc-rich Activating Solution. When combined, they activate to release millions of zinc ions that block the bacteria’s ability to ingest protein particles and ultimately stops sulfur gas production and the resulting bad breath.
Conclusion
You don’t have to give up your coffee habit, no matter if you’re drinking it for energy or joy, just because it gives you bad breath. There are many different ways to fight coffee breath, including brushing 30 minutes after drinking coffee drinking water, and flossing. In addition, SmartMouth’s Activated Oral Rinse can help block bacteria from releasing sulfur gas.
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*Results may vary. 24-hour bad breath protection results associated with twice daily use. SmartMouth products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All SmartMouth products come with our guarantee that SmartMouth works exactly as described or your money back. Always consult your oral healthcare professional.
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