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What are some good tricks to tell if you have bad breath?
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M$5 Answers
There are ways you can objectively smell your own breath. However, you have to take a slightly indirect route.
Try this technique. Lick your wrist, wait about five seconds while the saliva dries somewhat, and then smell it. What do you think?
That's the way you smell. Or, more precisely, that's the way the end of your tongue smells (your tongue's "anterior" portion). How was it? Did you pass this first check?
Bacterial coating scraped off tongue. Now try this second experiment. It will check the odor associated with the back portion of your tongue (your tongue's "posterior" aspect).
Take a spoon, turn it upside down, and use it to scrape the very back portion of your tongue. (Don't be surprised if you find you have an active gag reflex.) Take a look at the material that has been scrapped off, usually it's a thick whitish material. Now, take a whiff of it. Not so bad? Pretty nasty? This smell, as opposed to the sampling from the anterior portion of your tongue, is probably the way your breath smells to others.
I tried the first one and it seemed to do the trick.
Howcast.com has a great video of the spoon trick, attached.
About.com agrees with the first method:
Skip the old method of blowing into your hands and smelling your breath. Instead, lick the back of your hand, let the saliva dry, then take a whiff. What you smell is your true breath.
Personally, I just assume I have bad breath if I have not brushed or rinsed in the past hour or so, so I always keep gum or mints on hand if I will be meeting someone.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
According to Mayo Clinic, this does not work because we get used to our own smells. To tell, you should lick the back of your hand, wait for it to dry, and then smell it. Or you can ask someone else.
http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Get_Rid_of_Bad_Breath
1. Ask someone.
2. Scrape the back of your tongue with a spoon and smell it.
3. Lick the back of your hand, wait for it to dry, and then smell your hand.
Breathing into your hand does not work because exhaling and talking use the throat in different ways and because we get used to our own smells.
http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Get_Rid_of_Bad_Breath
(Mayo Clinic, MSNBC, WebMD -- See article for original sources).
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I guess the video did not embed, so here is the link: http://www.howcast.com/videos/272-How-To-Tell-If-You-Have-Bad-Breath
that is a very disturbing answer, very well done, kind of grossed me out to think about the details. lol Well done!