Tips To Battle Bad Breath

Bad breath can be a huge problem for people who have it and often they don't even know it's a problem.

Dr. Harold Katz, a dentist, is the founder of California Breath Clinics, and the international guru of good breath. He came to The Early Show to tell people how they can keep their mouths smelling good.

Katz said that bad breath isn't really caused by what people eat, but by sulfur compounds.

"Chronic bad breath has to due with bacteria that live in the back of your throat with sulfur, different chemicals. Can you imagine what they smell like? And they're produced by bacteria," Katz told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "The problem is people used to think if I use a strong-tasting mouthwash I can cover it up."

Katz used a hali-meter to test the compounds in the mouth. Anything above 120 means the person has bad breath. He blew into it and had had a 73, which means he has fresh breath. The hali-meter goes all the way up to 2,000.

The problem is that many people do not know they have a breath problem and few have hali-meters to show them. Katz said a good way to tell is to lick the back of you hand and let it dry for a couple seconds and smell it.

Katz said that alcohol, detergent and toothpaste dry out the mouth which adds to bad breath. Even sugar in breath mints feed bacteria to make bad breath worse. The best way to fight bad breath, Katz said, is to oxygenate the mouth.

"These are available in drugstores, discounted stores, supermarkets and online stores," he said gesturing to some products he brought on to the show. "Oxygenating compounds. It's the oxygen that stops the bad breath. Very important, you need to drink plenty of water to make sure you have plenty of saliva, nature's way of keeping your breath fresh. You need to eat juicy fruits such as apples, celery. Dairy could lead to bad breath, sodas and sugar. And there's probiotic treatments that help with bad breath."