BAD BREATH is the least of your worry when wearing a facemask.
Bad breath is not to be ignored; it could be an indication of more serious oral health issues such as tooth decay.
There are other oral health problems though that may be caused by wearing a facemask as we are required to do when outside our homes.
We tend to breathe in and out through the mouth instead of the nose when we wear a face mask. This may cause dry mouth, in turn decreasing the level of saliva that is so essential in cleaning teeth and ridding our mouth of bacteria.
Because it neutralizes the acid in the mouth, saliva helps protect against tooth decay and gum disease.
The inconvenience of taking the facemask on and off when drinking liquid, tends to make people drink less water or juice. This, again, may cause not just dehydration but also dry mouth.
Of course, as the British Dental Association (BDA) reminds us, it’s not the facemask per se that causes oral health problems – it’s probably the lockdown diet.
“East Asian societies, where face coverings have been ubiquitous for decades, are not confronting an epidemic of decay,” observes Professor Damien Walmsley, the Scientific Adviser of the BDA.
“Dentists wear masks as a matter of course, and we’re not exactly at the front of the queue for extractions.”
It could be, he says, that lockdowns are more to blame. Lockdowns mean less access to dental health care like regular cleaning. They also mean more time to indulge in sweet habits such as eating junk foods, pastries and consuming sugared drinks.
Basic oral health care takes the smell out of mask mouth.
This means brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day or, if possible, after every meal.
It means avoiding whenever possible sweet foods and sugared drinks, with an allowance to indulge once in a while to enjoy the sweet life. That is, if you then brush and floss your teeth.
And it means drinking water regularly to “wet” the mouth.
Of course, there is the usual suspect when it comes to bad breath – and it’s not related to a facemask.
It’s smoking tobacco. It may not only cause cancer, it may cause gum disease, a leading cause of bad breath.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the UE College of Dentistry, former Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, past president and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy, and honorary fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. Honorary Life Member of Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail or text 0917-8591515./PN
