To be sure, use mouthwash that is prescribed by your dentist. Myth #2 You can tell if you have bad breath by licking your hand as smelling it or by breathing with your hands cupped between your mouth and nose. First, if you lick your hand, the only portion of the tongue that will be used is the anterior portion. Since bad breath roots from bacterial production in the mouth, you should focus on vitamins that could hamper the production of these microorganisms. Zinc for one can decrease the concentration of volatile sulfur compounds in the mouth. There, now you can follow those simple steps, both the self-diagnosis steps and the natural remedy tips for bad breath treatment. It is more often the reason to children since they have habits of sucking objects including blanket that quickly dries the mouth. For adult, dried mouth is often caused by poor saliva production and using mouthwash that contains too much alcohol. Nasal, throat, and mouth infection cause halitosis as well. Several spices such as garlic and onion contain pungent oil that when digested, is mixed through the bloodstream and expelled by the lungs and through the mouth creating nasty-smelling breath. Using alcohol-based mouthwash often bring bad result than good. Since alcohol causes the mouth to try, and bacteria thrives on try mouth, VSCs can easily breed and cause chronic bad breath. Meanwhile, people who practice mouth breathing could get rid of bad breath if they refrain from doing so. Mouth breathing or xerostomia promotes the optimized environment for anaerobic bacteria due to the factor that it encourages the drying of the mouth. With relative dryness, these anaerobic bacteria would be able to reproduce more due to the absence of oxygen. Maintaining a good oral hygiene can prevent bad breath A good oral hygiene starts the moment you develop your first set of teeth. Although you cannot bring back that time, it is not too late you to begin taking care of your teeth. A good oral hygiene means brushing your teeth after meal, flossing at least one a day (before you sleep), using oral antiseptic that does not dry your mouth, and visiting a dentist for at least once a year.