What can I do to avoid bad breath? 如何预防口臭？

“Don’t fool yourself,” said a 1928 advert for Listerine mouthwash, “Since halitosis never announces itself to the victim, you simply cannot know when you have it.” Many of us do indeed worry that our breath smells fetid and sulphurous. There’s even halitophobia, when people are convinced they have bad breath but don’t. It is estimated that up to half of us have bad breath, which seems a bit excessive: the rate of “objectionable bad breath” is thought to be more like 2.4% of adults.

1982年的Listerine漱口水广告词说道“不要自欺欺人。由于口臭从来不会主动通知受害者，所以你也不知道什么时候会出现口臭。”我们许多人确实都担心自己呼吸的味道闻起来臭而且有硫磺的味道。有些人甚至还患有口臭恐惧症，他们在自己没有口臭的情况下，却坚信自己患有口臭。据估计多大半数以上的人患有口臭，这似乎有些过多：患有“令人讨厌的口臭”人数在成年人当中约有2.4%以上。

It’s hard to diagnose it yourself. Breathing into your hands and sniffing them only tells you if your hands smell. Licking the back of your wrist and smelling it after 10 seconds isn’t accurate either. Flossing and then smelling is only likely to reflect any decaying food. The taste in your mouth isn’t closely related to how your breath smells.

你自己很难发现自己患有口臭。对着你自己的手吹气，然后闻一下，如果你的手味道不好，那么你才会知道自己有口臭。舔一下自己的手腕背部，然后在10秒钟之后闻一下，也不是十分准确。用牙线剔牙之后，然后闻一闻，只能大致反映出腐烂食物的味道。你口中的味道并不是与你呼吸的味道紧紧相关的。

The solution

解决办法

Regular teeth-brushing and flossing will reduce the problem. A systematic review found that tongue scraping (which I always thought was a stupid idea) might work – but do it gently, back to front, as there are more bacteria at the back. Another review found that mouthwashes with chlorhexidine gluconate, which reduce bacterial levels, can help, especially after tongue-brushing when the bacteria are exposed and defenceless (although too much mouthwash can stain the teeth). Using before bedtime may also work well, as bacteria multiply at night when the mouth is dry and gets less oxygen. Ones without alcohol are best as they avoid drying out the mouth.

定期刷牙以及剔牙可以减轻这一问题。系统检查发现刮舌头(这一想法我一直认为十分愚蠢)或许有用——但是要轻一点，从后向前刮，因为在后面有更多的细菌。另一检查发现漱口水与葡萄糖酸氯己定也有效果，能降低细菌水平，尤其是当细菌被发现或者无防御的情况下刷舌头(但是漱口水过多也会污染牙齿)。在睡觉之前使用漱口水效果更佳，因为在嘴里干燥并且氧气较少的晚上，细菌会成倍增多。不喝酒是最好的，因为酒精会使人口感舌燥。