Bad breath in kids

Bad breath in kids is something quite common, even as young as the age of two. If the smell is coming from the mouth and not the nose, then chances are it is due to oral issues.

Bad breath in kids is not so different from bad breath in adults. The source for this most of the time is the lack of oral hygiene leading to a proliferation of bacteria. The bacteria causes a release of sulphur gasses that cause bad breath in children. In addition, young children tend to drink a lot of milk, and the milk breaks down into sugars such as fructose and lactose, which leads to a quick build-up of bacteria.  Also take into account that often children fall asleep before brushing their teeth, adding to the bacterial load which causes bad breath in kids.

First be sure that the child is brushing his teeth properly. If there is still bad breath it probably came from the back of the tongue, you can check this by gently removing the yellowish layer from the back of the tongue towards the throat and smelling. Also children’s bad breath can be due to drip from their nose that builds up on the tongue and rots there. This is a process that occurs in children and even in adults.

It is recommended that a doctor preforms the above test, so he will be able to recommend the appropriate specialist if the smell does not go away. If the smell is coming from the nose you should see an ENT specialist, who will among other things look for the presence of foreign bodies, such as pieces of toilet paper, corn, seeds, sponge, etc, that young children tend to sometimes push into their nose.

As in adults, bad breath is often a matter of cleaning and maintaining low levels of bacteria in the mouth. If you do this process with children as well there should not be bad breath.

For more information on bad breath in kids, please call and we will gladly help you.

Dr. Ari Greenspan