The End of My Morning Breath--How I Made A.M. Halitosis Stop

For the past few months I have had the pleasure of waking up daily with naturally pleasant breath instead of putrid decay coming from my mouth. And there isn't anything overly expensive, disruptive, or intrusive that I have done (oh, yeah, other than that 12-day water fast last March).


It has been a simple matter of a) becoming sufficiently alarmed at the advanced state of my gum disease to acquire a motivational copy of my periodontal examination record, b) faithfully cleaning my teeth with sonic brush and water pik before my nightly fast, and c) perhaps other good aspects of my diet habits.

A. MOTIVATION

Without a motivating vision, it's hard to acquire the habit of cleaning teeth before every nightly fast. Imagine how it would be to have healthy, pink gums. Imagine how it would be to awaken with non-toxic breath. Imagine how it would be to have all your own teeth at the age of 90.

B. NIGHTLY CLEANING AND FAST

First, for nearly everybody, a nightly fast of 11 or 12 hours with abundant clear water is very helpful to your general health. Cleaning by brush and floss or water pik (classic jet or pocket tip) before that fast gives your teeth half a day's rest free from chemical attack--time to fight disease. I haven't used toothpaste much in the past year, but I have occasionally added Listerine to my water pik reservoir.

C. GENERAL GOOD HEALTH

I have to confess I also don't eat any candy or soda pop (soft drink) on the average month, and I have no refined sugar or flour on the average day. While I don't strictly refuse pizza and cake, I generally enjoy a diet of things like oatmeal with fruit, beans, brown rice, tomatoes, fruit smoothies, and greens, all of the above with plenty of salt and spices. So my weight is really low. And the conventional wisdom is that less caloric intake leads to longer, healthier life. So that may help a bit in the disappearance of my morning breath. I'm not sure, but I thought I better disclose it.

Having clean teeth and breath is simpler than I had realized.

FOLLOW-UP 2011-04-09

I noticed that in the past week on two mornings after I had spaghetti and salsa, my breath didn't smell nice. I had been without Listerine for a long time. I will continue to observe and report.