Infant Bad Breath
Bad breath is a condition that affects people of every age and gender. Yes, not only teenagers and adults are inflected by it, but infants too fall victims to bad breath. In fact, hundreds of parents nowadays are asking and looking for some ways to cure their child's bad breath, and it is nice to know that infant bad breath is curable and preventable only if you invest extra effort and time on finding the right solution.
Infant bad breath can be a distressing dilemma for both the child and the parents. Certain theories have revealed that infant bad breath is basically caused by certain infections in the mouth, throat or sinus of the child. However, there are much deeper causes of infant bad breath, and some say that it's all about the child's thumb sucking habit and chronic mouth breathing. Well, let's take a closer look at these two major causes of infant bad breath.
Mouth Breathing
Mouth breathing is basically the same condition that produces the snoring sound. Infants undergo this condition as soon as they fall asleep. During this stage, the muscles in the mouth relax and the production of saliva falls. Once the saliva production drops, the mouth tends to dry, allowing the growth of bad breath-causing bacteria. Note that the longer the child sleeps the higher the bacterial count in the child's mouth increases. This is the condition actually that results to the so-called "morning breath".
Infants who frequently breathe through their mouth might have been affected by sinus infections, colds, enlarge tonsils blocking the nasal passages, or allergies. Given this fact, it is then best to visit your child's physician if you've noticed this kind of condition to your child. The physician may help you solve whatever problem your child is suffering from, be it a sinus infection, colds, allergies, or a chronic infant bad breath.
Thumb Sucking
Thumb sucking is very common for infants. Certain reports have noted that it does not cause permanent problems with the child's jaw line or teeth. However, there is a limit for this sort of habit. According to some experts, thumb sucking that is continued beyond the age of four to five may turn out something not favorable. It may be signifies lack of self-confidence or emotional immaturity, and worse, thumb sucking may cause infant bad breath. In what way? Well, infant bad breath actually occurs when the child keeps on sucking his or her thumb all day, which may dry out the mouth, allowing the bacteria to accumulate and grow.
As given, infant bad breath is usually caused by mouth drying. So to prevent or cure infant bad breath, the main goal is to lessen the number of mouth bacteria and increase saliva. One way to decrease the bacteria is to teach your child the proper brushing technique. Make after meal brushing a habit as this will help eliminate the infant bad breath-causing bacteria present in your child's mouth. And, if the case appears to be serious, don't hesitate to call a doctor and find out the real problem.
