| " Brushing your teeth, roof of the mouth and tongue, and flossing -- all at least twice a day." " Chewing gum with xylitol, a natural sweetener that inhibits the growth of bacteria that cause bad breath. You can also chew parsley. It promotes saliva production, which helps to rinse the mouth." " Drinking or rinsing with water to dilute and wash away bacteria and ketones in the mouth " " When his teenage daughter began coming home in tears, Los Angeles dentist Harold Katz started looking for a cure for her misery -- breath so bad that friends were offering her gum and mints. He found that his athletic daughter had a dry mouth after basketball practice. Without cleansing saliva, sulfur-emitting bacteria quickly multiplied in her mouth, causing bad breath, or halitosis." " In 1994, Katz opened his first California Breath Clinic. Now he owns a string of them and teaches doctors throughout the world about treating malodorous mouths. "There's a lot of bad breath out there," he says." " According to the Academy of General Dentistry in Chicago, 90 million Americans suffer from occasional to chronic bad breath. Often the cause is poor dental hygiene or food particles that begin to decay in the mouth. But stinky breath can be attributed to myriad other things, including stress, hormonal changes, post-nasal drip, illness, certain medications and tobacco use. Halitosis also can be a symptom of diabetes and kidney or periodontal disease, so it's important to see a doctor if the condition persists." " Sometimes your breath reflects what you drink or eat. That garlic-laced Italian lunch, for instance, can make itself known to those around you for up to 72 hours after you eat it. "Until your body eliminates it, you'll continue to have it in your system," says Dr. Ramon Ortiz, a Palm Harbor dentist." " Low-carb diets also can cause halitosis. When the body lacks carbs to burn, it turns to fat for fuel. That leads to the formation of ketones that are released in the breath and urine. "It smells fruity, but not a good fruity," Ortiz says. Think rotten eggs. "It's just not very pleasant."" " Products marketed as bad-breath fighters -- mints, strips, sprays and gum among them -- can be effective for short-term
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