Home remedies for bad breath - Bad Breath

15 good home remedies that most of us can use to cover or rid ourselves of bad breath or, scientifically, Halitosis.

Tired of having breath that could knock out an elephant? Don't want to spend a lot of money to get rid of it? Haven't found anything that really works for you? Well, here are a few home remedies that may work for you.

1. Brush your teeth with baking soda first, then rinse out your mouth with plain or warm, salty water. Follow this with regular toothpaste and you are on your way.

2. Floss your teeth daily. The gunk (plaque) between your teeth may be causing your bad breath.

3. Scrape your tongue with a spoon or one of those specially designed tongue scrapers. Get as far back on your tongue as possible to scrape off the offending bacteria.

4. Rinse your mouth out with a little lemon or lime juice mixed with water.

5. Brush your tongue when you brush your teeth and after meals too. The tongue is like a lint catcher and it has to be cleaned off every so often to get that nice aroma to come through.

6. Chew on some fresh parsley or alfalfa, especially after eating garlic, onions, or fish. The chlorophyll in these two plants kills the offensive bacteria in your oral cavity.

7. Drink green tea. And it doesn't hurt to swish it around in your mouth before you swallow it: it will kill the harmful bacteria in your mouth.

8. Avoid eating cheese, milk, products containing yeast, garlic, onions, and any other odorous food.

9. Drink plenty of water. The water flushes out the toxins in your body that keep coming through your pores, nose, and mouth. On top of that, water just keeps your mouth tissues moist so that you do not have dry mouth.

10. Are you constipated? That is not a dumb question. If you are constipated, then it is like having the sewage system back up at your house. We all know what that smells like. So take natural laxative like odorless, liquid aged garlic or aloe vera juice, and wait for your system to clear out, and your breath will smell a lot better.

11. Brush your teeth with herbs such as peppermint and sage.

12. If there is an infection in your mouth, be sure to take vitamins A and B to help your mouth's healing process. (Also see a dentist because he or she is able to find any decay or infections that you are not aware of.)

13. Change your toothbrush every month. Bacteria build up on your brush and you are putting those bad ones back into your mouth every time you brush your teeth.

14. Use mouthwash with high chlorophyll content.

15. Brush your teeth after each meal that you eat so that the food caught on and between your teeth does not have time to fester feed the bacteria in tour mouth.

If none of these remedies work for you, then you may have to visit your dentist or family doctor for additional help. Sometimes bad breath is a sign that there is something very wrong in your body and a dentist or doctor would be best qualified to diagnose it.