23rd February 2018
Bad breath can be a sensitive subject to discuss in a marriage or any relationship. You love your husband and you don’t want to hurt his feelings or for some the topic can just be a little embarrassing in general.
What’s important to remember is you need to be able to talk with the person you’ve married about anything. Especially about something that can affect you to being together or getting intimate. So, bring up the subject gently but with confidence and above all be supportive and helpful.
Before we can give you some options for handling bad breath it’s important to understand the different between chronic bad breath and normal bad breath. Chronic bad breath is typically much more potent and stronger smelling than your average bad breath, and it stems from other issues.
That’s right… good oral hygiene isn’t enough to deal with this type of foul smell. The most common cause are other sicknesses with the throat or mouth. If your husband has had bronchitis for example chronic bad breath can accompany it. The unpleasant smell is a side effect of the bacteria that caused him to be sick.
Luckily, chronic bad breath usually goes away on its own. After your husband feels better you should expect things to return to normal in about a week.
If the bad breath doesn’t go away or it didn’t stem from a recent illness there may be other things at play. So at this point here are things you should try to practice in dealing with this:
1. Reanalyze Your Routine
Routines can become monotonous and we begin to not give any thought to what we are doing because we’ve done it so many times before. Spark a conversation on your morning and night bathroom routine and let it lead to talking about oral hygiene.
These daily activities we repeat can often reach a point where we’re not doing as good of a job because we’re not thinking about it. Ask a question like “do you count while you brush your teeth?”, because you’ve read you should be brushing each side for so many seconds before swapping sides.
Planting these small seeds in your spouse’s mind will get them thinking and they will likely improve their routine based on your conversations.
2. Review Sleeping Patterns
A big contributing factor to bad breath is dry mouth. When our mouth is dry and we’re not producing enough saliva, it makes for a better environment for bacteria. Is your partner snoring through the night, hang their mouth open, or possibly developed sleep apnea?
These night time issues can lead to bad breath more frequently. There are products available to help solve these issues you may want to consider. If you notice, there’s trouble breathing at night and that’s why your spouse is snoring or breathing through the mouth you should seek a professional medical opinion.
3. Don’t Forget the Tongue
If brushing your teeth 3 times a day isn’t solving your bad breath issue it could be the tongue. Does your spouses tongue have a white streak on it? If so it needs more attention during the hygiene routine.
Purchase tongue scrapers and use them religiously. They’re terrific for having better breath. A lot of people don’t realize their tongue could be the culprit, but it often is. Tongue scrapers are quick and easy to use so you can use it after any meal or snack.
Go out and buy yourself and your spouse one. This way you’re not just buying one for them which could be taken the wrong way. They’re very handy oral hygiene tools to keep around always.
4. Carry More Breath Fresheners
A temporary solution can be carrying around more chewing gum and breath mints. Sometimes we may be in a rush and can’t brush during our work lunch hour or maybe we wake up late for work. Whatever your reason is you can always carry these helpful items with you.
I personally know a couple who keep breath mints in their nightstand. They believe in starting every morning by holding each other in bed a couple minutes before beginning their daily routine. They both take the mints when they wake up and then they cuddle. They both contribute this routine to strengthening their marriage.
5. Be Open and Honest
Being open and honest and telling someone they have a bad breath issue may be one of the hardest things to do. It’s not like you’re recommending ways your husband can grow a beard or talking to your teenage son about his first electric shaver. You’re talking about someone’s personal hygiene.
It may or may not be something within their control but either way you should bring it up. You’re doing them a favor by addressing the issue and helping them resolve it. It’s the equivalent of having food in your teeth all day and no one told you except with bad breath.
So just get the discussion going and your thoughts out in the open.
Primarily it’s important to know your spouse and how to approach them with these issues. The handsome groom you married and yourself will both go through many changes as you grow as a person with each passing year. One key to making it last is falling in love over and over again as you both grow together.
