You awaken in your bed. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the taste in your mouth is… just awful.
Who among us has never had a case of “morning breath,” “coffee breath,” or “garlic breath?” They’re at least common enough that we’re all familiar with these phrases.
Bad breath, also called halitosis, affects half of adults at one time or another, according to the American Dental Association.
In an effort to combat this common condition, scientists reviewed whether probiotics might be a useful halitosis treatment.
They published thei the journal BMJ Open.
What researchers uncovered about bad breath
It’s important to note that this publication was a meta-analysis, meaning the authors reviewed existing studies.
The researchers originally identified 130 studies to examine but ultimately winnowed the pool down to just 7 studies.
“The whole idea behind probiotics is if we have a group of bacteria in the environment that we don’t like if we introduce bacteria that we do like and can supplant the ‘bad guys’ with the ‘good guys,’ then we’ll end up with a better result, consumer advisor for the American Dental Association and assistant professor at the college of dentistry at The Ohio State University, told Healthline.
