Bad breath is something that can be hard to detect on yourself and hard to get rid of, but the best way to get rid of bad breath is by finding out what is causing it. If you know why you have bad breath, it will be easier for you to eliminate it. One cause of bad breath is dry mouth. If you suffer from dry mouth and have bad breath, it's likely that the lack of saliva in your mouth is the cause of the odor. Here are several things you should know about the role of saliva in your mouth.

Saliva is a natural cleanser for your teeth

Saliva is something that everyone has in their mouth, and it is there for a number of reasons. For one, it helps you chew food so that you can swallow it. Secondly, it keeps your mouth moist so that you can speak. The third job of saliva, though, is to cleanse your teeth and mouth, and you probably did not know that this is one of the main purposes of saliva.

When you eat, your saliva glands are triggered, and they then begin to produce and release saliva in your mouth. This process continues until you are completely done eating, but it may even continue to occur for several minutes after you are finished eating. As this happens, the saliva is actually rinsing off your teeth. This helps remove bacteria and food particles from your teeth, and it keeps your teeth clean.

Dry mouth interferes with this process

When a person suffers from dry mouth, also called xerostomia, his or her salivary glands do not produce enough saliva. Because of this, the teeth are not naturally cleansed as much, and this results in bacteria and food particles being left on the teeth. If this happens each day, the person is likely to develop bad breath, simply because there is a lot of food, debris, and bacteria left in the mouth after eating.

If you suffer from dry mouth and struggle with bad breath, it is very possible that your dry mouth condition is the cause of your bad breath. To conquer this problem, you may need to determine what is causing your dry mouth syndrome. By treating that, you may be able to freshen your breath easier. If you have questions about dry mouth or bad breath, visit a local dentist at a dental office like Pike Dentistry today.