What To Do When You Wake Up With......Morning Mouth

  The Barefoot Doctor is a collective media project of the Ann Arbor Free People's Clinic. The name comes from the People's Republic of China, where medical knowledge is being demystified and de-professionalized in order to promote good health in the vast rural areas which have never had medical-school-trained doctors.  Barefoot doctors are ordinary peasants, elected by their village, work group, or commune, to participate in six months of intensive paramedical training.  They return to their villages skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of everyday medical problems, and have made health care available to millions of people who never had any before.

We want to answer YOUR questions!  Send them to:  Barefoot Doctor, c/o Free People's Clinic: 225 E. Liberty; Ann Arbor Ml 48108

Q. Can anything be done about bad breath?

A. Bad breath, or halitosis, was largely created when the American advertising industry teamed up with certain corporations to create the American mouthwash industry.  Real, persistent bad breath is a medical rarity.  It is a warped testimonial to the incredible power of the advertising media that we are now a nation of people self-conscious to the point of paranoia about our breath.  People are so fearful of being unpopular or of offending others that they spend incalculable millions per year on deodorant toothpastes, mouthwashes, mints, candies, gums, almost anything that promises to freshen foul breath.  What a con job!

     First, bad breath should be distinguished from a bad taste in the mouth.  The former may be broadcast to others by talking, laughing, and generally being sociable.  The latter is unpleasant, but only to the sufferer, as in the common condition known as "morning mouth."  When you sleep, particularly in a dry room, and particularly if you don't brush your teeth before bed, the bacteria that normally inhabit the mouth can work on the food particles remaining in your mouth with relative ease.  When you awaken the next morning you have a bad taste in your mouth and throat, that one huckster product's advertising calls '"dragon mouth."  Gargles and mouthwashes will relieve this sensation, but so will tap water tor a great deal less money.

     Bad breath is almost always the result of smoking, drinking liquor, or eating foods that have strong odors like garlic onions, peppers, coffee, salami, and some strong cheeses.  Belching brings food odors up from the stomach, but most bad breath is caused by air that is exhaled from the lungs through food particles and odors that remain in the mouth after eating.  Sometimes indigestion, constipation, or a postnasal infection can contribute foul odors to your breath, but these are more rare than the simple, usual cause, eating strong foods.

     Virtually every product that claims to freshen the breath is an expensive and largely ineffective ruse.  Sloshing some awful stuff around your mouth may cover an odor for a few minutes, but after you spit out the deodorant any protection disappears.  Some products claim to "kill germs that can cause bad breath."  True, the action of the bacteria that are always present in your mouth and throat may add a certain amount of unpleasant odor to your breath.  But, no product can kill all these bacteria, and the ones that survive repopulate the mouth quite quickly.  They are also more resistant to the action of the mouthwash.

     Still, many people are convinced that they do have offensive breath, and want to do something about it.  There are several things the Free People's Clinic recommends:  (1) brush your teeth after meals, and use dental floss at least once a day.  You'll remove food particles, and toughen your gums against infection which will save your teeth as well as help your breath, (2) try to avoid really strong foods, ( 3 ) stop smoking cigarettes, and (4) eat chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll is the pigment in plants that makes them look green.  Many bad breath products use chlorophyll as their "active ingredient."  You can obtain the benefits of chlorophyll by simply eating some fresh parsley, or fresh spinach leaves.