Are Dental Appliances a Source for Bad Breath?

According to Colgate, there are approximately 3 million Americans and Canadians who wear dental braces and twice as many who wear mouth guards and retainers.

Then, according to the Dental Economics approximately 37 million Americans wear dentures.

These data automatically reflect that orthodontics is a very important dental medical field, but it also means that there might be a few millions out there who struggle with the bad breath issue.

Halitosis or bad breath can definitely be caused by all these types of dental appliances. The bacteria in the human mouth find themselves more free surfaces where they can reside, if a patient wears any kind of dental appliance, be it a mouth guard or a denture. The food particles are being trapped by the devices, so the microbes can feed on these particles.

According to several recent researches in the field, the oral appliances that patients wear are in a direct connection with the bad breath formation. The American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics has published a report according to which people who wear braces or other dental appliances develop halitosis just as people who do not wear braces develop the condition.

Throughout the study, the level of oral odor of the patients has been measured. Findings have shown that the level of the odor has been the strongest after 4 weeks from having these braces cemented to the teeth.

However, oral appliances are very important for the health, and people should not restrain from wearing them.

There are plenty of breath freshening products available on the market that will help neutralize these bacteria, and keep away the formation of halitosis. Patients with dental appliances who struggle with bad breath are encouraged to seek the perfect product for their individual case.

The products that do not contain lauryl sulfate are extremely efficient especially for people with braces, because this way they will avoid the formation of cold sores.