Bad Breath in Children and Why it Happens

It is not unusual for bad breath in children to happen. The technical name for bad breath is halitosis. This involves air coming through the nasal cavities or mouth that smells foul, instead of pleasant. We think of this problem more in adults than in children, but it can happen to anyone. Let's look at the reason for this condition occurs in kids.

When the mouth goes too dry bacteria can grow quickly. Kids sleep so much as part of their growth process that their mouths can dry out, while they sleep. So they wake up with what is called morning breath. Mom goes into the children's room to wake them up and she gets alarmed that their breath is so bad. However, this can be normal.

Actually in adults, bad breath can occur for much more serious problems than in kids. With children they do not always take the time to brush their teeth correctly. They hurry up and get it done so they can watch their video before bedtime. In the morning they whiz through brushing their teeth to get to school. As a parent help your children clean their teeth and mouth more thoroughly to help prevent the bad breath.

Is the bad breath in children happening for other reasons than we have mentioned though. Yes, sometimes the kids can have sinus drainage. This goes down the back of the throat and tongue. The tongue is designed in such a way as to trap a lot of bacteria. If the tongue is not cleaned of these bacteria, they will grow and start to give off sulfur odor. This is sort of like the smell of rotten eggs. Yes, and it is coming out of your children's mouth.

Children can have tonsillitis. This is when the tonsils become inflamed. When this happens the breath can smell bad. Once the inflammation goes away the breath smells much better. Sometime this is so severe or happens so often though, that the tonsils have to be surgically removed before the breath is sweeter smelling.

Bad teeth or gums can cause bad breath in children and adults. Regular cleanings and checkups with the dentist, is the way to prevent this reason for foul breath. Proper dental care is a must to keep teeth and gums healthy. If parents are not careful with their children's teeth the problem can go passed just the baby ones into the permanent ones. This is something that no parent wants to happen.

With kids one must go easy when bad breath is discovered. They do not need to be made self-conscious about the problem. So parents should not overreact. There should be discussions about why it important to have nice-smelling breath. Also parents should look for the reasons for the bad breath.

The bad breath in children can be solved. Parents just have to find out the cause for it. Then together with their kids they can work towards a solution.