What can I do to avoid bad breath? 如何預(yù)防口臭？

“Don’t fool yourself,” said a 1928 advert for Listerine mouthwash, “Since halitosis never announces itself to the victim, you simply cannot know when you have it.” Many of us do indeed worry that our breath smells fetid and sulphurous. There’s even halitophobia, when people are convinced they have bad breath but don’t. It is estimated that up to half of us have bad breath, which seems a bit excessive: the rate of “objectionable bad breath” is thought to be more like 2.4% of adults.

1982年的Listerine漱口水廣告詞說道“不要自欺欺人。由于口臭從來不會(huì)主動(dòng)通知受害者，所以你也不知道什么時(shí)候會(huì)出現(xiàn)口臭。”我們許多人確實(shí)都擔(dān)心自己呼吸的味道聞起來臭而且有硫磺的味道。有些人甚至還患有口臭恐懼癥，他們在自己沒有口臭的情況下，卻堅(jiān)信自己患有口臭。據(jù)估計(jì)多大半數(shù)以上的人患有口臭，這似乎有些過多：患有“令人討厭的口臭”人數(shù)在成年人當(dāng)中約有2.4%以上。

It’s hard to diagnose it yourself. Breathing into your hands and sniffing them only tells you if your hands smell. Licking the back of your wrist and smelling it after 10 seconds isn’t accurate either. Flossing and then smelling is only likely to reflect any decaying food. The taste in your mouth isn’t closely related to how your breath smells.

你自己很難發(fā)現(xiàn)自己患有口臭。對著你自己的手吹氣，然后聞一下，如果你的手味道不好，那么你才會(huì)知道自己有口臭。舔一下自己的手腕背部，然后在10秒鐘之后聞一下，也不是十分準(zhǔn)確。用牙線剔牙之后，然后聞一聞，只能大致反映出腐爛食物的味道。你口中的味道并不是與你呼吸的味道緊緊相關(guān)的。

The solution

解決辦法

Regular teeth-brushing and flossing will reduce the problem. A systematic review found that tongue scraping (which I always thought was a stupid idea) might work – but do it gently, back to front, as there are more bacteria at the back. Another review found that mouthwashes with chlorhexidine gluconate, which reduce bacterial levels, can help, especially after tongue-brushing when the bacteria are exposed and defenceless (although too much mouthwash can stain the teeth). Using before bedtime may also work well, as bacteria multiply at night when the mouth is dry and gets less oxygen. Ones without alcohol are best as they avoid drying out the mouth.

定期刷牙以及剔牙可以減輕這一問題。系統(tǒng)檢查發(fā)現(xiàn)刮舌頭(這一想法我一直認(rèn)為十分愚蠢)或許有用——但是要輕一點(diǎn)，從后向前刮，因?yàn)樵诤竺嬗懈嗟募?xì)菌。另一檢查發(fā)現(xiàn)漱口水與葡萄糖酸氯己定也有效果，能降低細(xì)菌水平，尤其是當(dāng)細(xì)菌被發(fā)現(xiàn)或者無防御的情況下刷舌頭(但是漱口水過多也會(huì)污染牙齒)。在睡覺之前使用漱口水效果更佳，因?yàn)樵谧炖锔稍锊⑶已鯕廨^少的晚上，細(xì)菌會(huì)成倍增多。不喝酒是最好的，因?yàn)榫凭珪?huì)使人口感舌燥。