Coffee is a favorite beverage of people the world over, but it can make breath smell and leave the drinker with a dry, uncomfortable mouth. To make matters worse than just unpleasant breath, frequent dryness in the mouth can erode your dental health. Thankfully, there are ways to cure coffee breath while taking care of your teeth, including regular dental visits. Read on to find out more about freshening up your breath after drinking your morning cup of Joe.
What Causes Coffee Breath?
While coffee smells great as it brews, the smell it leaves on its drinkers’ breath can be less than pleasurable. This is in part because aroma compounds containing sulfur form in coffee during the roasting process. Sulfur is a chemical that is notorious for its rotten egg smell. These compounds, when combined with the acid in coffee, cause bad breath.
This effect is amplified by the dry mouth coffee can create, which baristas call astringency. Coffee causes dry mouth because it contains tannins and caffeine, both of which inhibit the mouth’s production of saliva.
Saliva provides your mouth with a valuable service by helping to wash it clean of debris, food particles, and odor-causing bacteria. If these things aren’t being washed out of the mouth, their scent will become more noticeable on the breath.
How Can I Get Rid of Coffee Breath?
There are a few readily available remedies for coffee breath, including:
- Enjoy a large glass of water to wash away the acid.
- Brush your teeth thirty minutes after drinking coffee. Toothpaste containing zinc or clove oil may be especially helpful.
- Enjoy a sugar-free cough drop, breath mint, or piece of gum.
- Chew some fresh, raw parsley.
- Use mouthwash.
How Can I Avoid Coffee Breath?
Since coffee breath is caused in no small part by bacteria, drinking your coffee black can actually help reduce the problem. By filling your coffee with sugar and milk, you are providing food for these rapidly multiplying bacteria that cause odor and tooth decay. If you must have that sweet taste in your java, try using a sugar substitute or stirring your coffee with vanilla bean or a cinnamon stick. Since skim milk contains more sugar than milk with a higher fat content, using half-and-half or whole milk might be the better choice.
Good oral hygiene can go a long way to reducing coffee breath, and drinking a healthier cup of coffee can also help the situation. If you need some of the bean of caffeine to help you rise and shine, it’s best to know how to keep your breath socially acceptable for the coming day.
About the Practice
Elmbrook Family Dental provides the families of Brookfield, WI, with the care and education they need to keep smiling brightly for a lifetime. Led by a skilled team of seven dentists, the staff is ready to go the distance to provide patients with compassionate and comprehensive dental care. Services include preventive, restorative, cosmetic, and emergency dentistry. If you are interested in learning more about how your drinking habits can affect your oral health, contact the office online or call the Executive Drive Location at (262) 784-7201.