Unintended consequences of masks

Thanks to our masks, many of us are smelling our own bad breath for the first time.

Whether single use, re-usable, surgical or N95,  all of us are running into some serious intimacy with the newest fashion accessory and hygienic device – the face mask.

Due to local laws, hygiene directives or simply the choice of the individual, we are all wearing them for at least short spurts and many of us for long stretches at a time.  All of this familiarity with the face mask is introducing us to something that only other people have experienced until now and that we have never had to endure before – our own bad breath.

If you have bad breath, you won’t need to wear a mask for long before you begin to smell something foul.  Is it coming from the mask?  Is there a rotten egg or sulfur smell in the area?  Is there something decaying in your pantry?  No, that’s just how your own breath smells.

It has been well known to scientists for years that the root of most bad breath problems is the rear of the tongue.  It is here that bacteria, food debris and dead cells decay, the bi-products of which cause 80-90% of cases of halitosis or bad breath.

The way to get rid of the problem, now that you are aware of it is via a dedicated tongue cleaner.  A tongue cleaner is specially designed to clean the particles mentioned above off of your tongue, unlike a toothbrush which just spreads these particles around.  A dedicated tongue cleaner will actually trap and lift these microorganisms and debris off of the tongue surface.  And just as you brush your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste, a tongue cleaner also works better with a dedicated gel that works against the specific microorganisms on the tongue that are causing halitosis.