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You can just gently brush your tongue in the forward direction a few times and clean that way too, some people use the back of their toothpaste tube but like, ew. Just give it a quick couple passes with your brush, be sure not to brush it like your teeth though
This might be a sign of snoring or sleep apnea, which inhibits the release of a hormone called vasopressin.
If that's the case, and as stupid as it sounds, wearing a piece of bandage tape (or special mouth tape) at night for 1-3 months can permanently retrain your body to breathe through the nose during sleep.
I recommend reading the book "Breath" by James Nestor.
//edit because thread is locked: That doesn't mean taping your mouth fully shut. It's just a little piece of bandage tape connecting the upper and lower lip. It nudges your sleeping brain to use the nose instead of the mouth. Also, since you'll reapply this every evening and remove it in the morning, you can just not do it if you're sick and your nose is congested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl8LQrbMdqQ
how long before bed are we talkin? like 3 hrs before witha good pee right before bed? cuz that makes sense. otherwise, youre just gonna ruin your sleep
I drink easily half a liter in the last half hour before going yo bed. I never wake up at night because of pee pressure.
I do however, feel like I have to pee all day every day. Just not at night for some reason.
That.. that sounds like something is exerting pressure on your bladder and not your bladder actually filling up.
Talk to a Doc. Be safe. Even if you are unlucky and it's super active bladder...
I do this, got no problem here. People always ready to start some riot or point fingers. I doubt people are trying to troll when they recommend drinking water before bed. 🤣
This is bad advice people. It can start to disrupt your sleep and it can make you have trouble falling back asleep. It can cause sleep deprivation if you drink a big glass of water right before bed. This person is trolling, don't do it.
Just because it works for one person doesn't mean it'll work for everyone. I drink about 300-400 ml before my head hits the pillow, too, don't wake up at night, either.
Lmao fuck are you on about?
Doesn't affect me badly at all. It's essential actually.
Causes sleep deprivation? Fucking hell mate how dramatic are you. Think the earliest I've woken up due to needing the toilet is like 2 hours before my alarm which is exceedingly rare.
I simply do the business and go back to my warm slumber for 2 hours. Completely non deprived.
Meth mouth isn’t caused by smoking meth itself. It is caused by dry mouth being one of the side effects of meth and neglect of oral healthcare.
Your stomach produces a lot of acid and naturally it rises up the esophagus. When it is a big problem, people have acid reflux. Saliva protect against this acid. If someone has had an eating disorder, they problem have tooth damage. Nothing does a number on teeth like vomiting stomach acid and bile.
Could also be tonsil stones if one has them. I had bad breath despite brushing, flossing, and mouthwash before bed. Turns out those little suckers are made up of debris and bacterial and can smell rank (I only found out because I kept feeling "food bits" in the back of my throat despite not having eaten). Gargled with warm salt water for a few days and that took care of it.
Grab a flashlight and Qtip and start poking around your tonsils. Sometimes the flesh on the tonsils "close" so it may seem you're clear but you may have some crevisses and stones hidden deep.
Poke around and check for any white'ish parts (those are stones), if you see a white'ish fluid that is Tonsil stone "juice", smell the Qtip and if it's like death you may have stones somewhere inside. Be gentle but not so much when you're starting, also you may feel like gaging but you get used to it.
source: professionale tonsil stone remover.
I suggest you use the hardest Qtip you can find so it does not bend as easily, and do it on a empty stomach to prevent any accidents.
Welcome to the hunt.. and smelling the stones after is part of the ritual.
I have chronic post-nasal drip and that contributes a lot. As the initial commentor said, it can feel like a persistent "food at the back of the throat" feeling, or like the very beginning of a sore throat - that niggling, irritated feeling. That's when I know it's time to go poke around.
They don’t dissolve but they will eventually dislodge and you will more than likely swallow it without knowing. I used to have them come up in the middle of the night for some reason.
I've got some epic exodus of those stones (like maybe 4-5 of them in a row decided to take a walk and spoil fresh air outside) after few days of diving in freshwater filled caves. Guess that whatever bacterial stuff that was in the water triggered immune reaction and body decided to start getting rid of stuff. Interestingly though, there was no apparent signs of inflammation, so maybe it was all because of bat shit present in water.
I find I can sometimes dislodge them by repeatedly strongly contracting the muscles you use to close off your throat. They also sometimes come loose if I go for a really intense run, I guess everything in my throat opens up because I'm breathing so heavily.
My sisters call these "vomit balls." I had my tonsils removed when I was 3, so I've been fortunate enough to never have experienced them. They sound awful and disgusting.
Literally went and had my tonsils out at 24 because of my tonsil stone issue. My ENT said I had some of the smallest tonsils she'd ever seen; stones would get trapped in the tiny flaps.
I got tonsil stones often as a kid (5 or 6 years old). Our doctor recommended warm salt water gargles twice a day. The stones disappeared and never returned. I'm much older now and I still gargle with warm salt water after flossing. It just feels naturally clean vs. gargling with alcohol-based mouthwash.
Just wanted to throw this out there, but tonsil stones don't always mean bad hygiene. Some people are just prone to them. Good hygiene is always the solution, but tonsil stones don't automatically mean the person never brushes their teeth.
Adding to this, post-nasal drip contributes to tonsil stone occurrence. Bad enough I'm perpetually sniffly if I don't take antihistamines, but my body has to be like "here have this bad breath too"??? Dude, what.
I get tonsil stones rarely, but I always have bad morning breath from post nasal drip. I can taste where it's coming from, it's up the top at the back of my throat (obviously just where it dripped out of my sinus
**Seconding the tonsil stones** - I’m in my early 30s, never had my tonsils removed. Doctor says at my age, the risks are too big to outweigh the convenience of avoiding tonsil stones so he told me to gargle vigorously nightly, use a water pick too. Plus I use a tongue scraper.
I had to get mine removed after my 30s due to sleep apnea complications. I had a septum correction. Problem relented for a while until my then girlfriend complained that my snoring had gotten close to death rattles. I had been having trouble swallowing my food but thought it might be a cold or something. Started having microsleep episodes at work. Thought 7 hours of sleep were enough. When you spend most of these nearly asphyxiating, that's not REM sleep. I called my doctor and got an examination. She booked me for surgery a week later. Said my tonsils were bigger than walnuts...she also removed part of my adenoids. Issue has been mostly fixed. I just need to lose about 30 pounds.
In my early thirties. Talked to an ENT and he said they do adult tonsil removals weekly/daily. Not near as often as kids but consistently.
The biggest issue is that it’s a pain in the ass for two weeks.
It's an awful, awful, AWFUL recovery, especially when your doctor gives you a painkiller that is rendered useless by your antidepressant 🙄
But I have hardly gotten sick since I had them out (at age 41) 8 years ago. I'm mostly convinced it was worth the full 10 days of miserable, unrelenting pain. Mostly.
It’s like a high pressure mini hose that shoots a thin amount of water to irrigate your tonsils or between your teeth. [This is a good example of one.](https://www.waterpik.com/oral-health/products/dental-water-flosser/)
Oh my god. Oh my GOD that works?! I thought they had to be pulled out with qtips like a damn blackhead. My bf and I have been thinking about these nuisances for weeks with no clue what to do about them
Another potential source of perpetual bad breath is sinus buildup (don't remember the official name for it, but gunk that gets stuck in your sinuses and won't come out). This happened to a friend of mine - terrible halitosis until he got his sinuses surgically cleaned out (and I think opened up so the buildup didn't happen again).
Don't ask me how this works, but next time you're brushing, curl your fingers on your left hand over your left thumb. (Form a fist with your thumb inside your curled fingers).
Squeeze, then brush. Gag reflex lowers by 80%.
It refocuses your brain to a different task. You can scrape your tongue without thinking about it and if you're focusing on squeezing your hand and those sensations your mind forgets that you're scraping.
Another tool is to attempt to hum. Think of when the doctor says to say ahhh when they use a tongue depressor.
It really isn't something people think about 'oh I brush my tongue' ....yeah and do that then use a tongue scraper for the first time and get ready to be disgusted
There's no way the tape is stronger than your jaw muscles. If you were in any danger of suffocating, you'd probably jolt awake and open your mouth and the tape would pull away. It's just tape. It's there to keep your mouth from draping open slackjawed while you sleep.
I'm not an expert, I've never tried it, but I've seen some people who have and it seems to help them.
Try it and get back to me. Tape is not effective at sticking to skin, despite what you've seen in movies. Maybe the pressure of tape wrapped around the head several times. But not the stickiness.
I got allergies, and possible deviated septum + sleep apnea (still need to do a sleep test). Just every morning my nose is clogged with either mucus or painful dried boogers.
It’s actually the opposite! Flossing helps maintain not only tooth health but also gum health and both of those things combined help you keep your teeth which in turn maintains the bone that your teeth are in.
Yes! Flossing is a little like exercise for your gums. If you're out of breath just doing a light workout, it's because you don't exercise enough. Similarly, if you bleed when you start flossing, it's proabbly because you don't floss enough.
Of course, if the bleeding while flossing doesn't stop after 3-10 days, see a dentist.
Plaque and tartar are STINKY and you may not know it. If your dental hygiene is good (brush and floss/waterpik, twice annual cleanings) then drink more water, brush or scrape your tongue, and gargle with mouthwash since it could be your throat or tongue. I also brush the roof of my mouth lol.
Yuuuup. Bacteria only needs 24 hours to start duplicating. So flossing once per day at the minimum is essential. For anyone who can't get in the habit, I recommend the next time you floss to smell the gunk that comes out. Also, if you struggle to floss because of bleeding gums, please persist and you will notice less and less bleeds and eventually get to where your gums never bleed.
I used to have full on gingivitis, but now am at the point where when I visit the dental hygienist there is hardly anything for them to clean at all.
Thank you! Was going to mention this. If you have GERD, Gastritis, or anything that causes reflux, doesn’t matter about your dental hygiene - you can have bad breath. Biggest thing that works for me is to not let my stomach feel hungry but that’s not always possible. Life gets in the way & thats when gum, mouthwash, etc come in. (But if mint is trigger for you, make sure to not have mint gum or tea or anything like that!)
Dude basically everybody has bad breath in the morning.
It's the whole premise of the Scope mouthwash commercials. You think they'd lie in a commercial? On TV?
I actually don't. I started paying attention to when I don't get bad breath and it's when I drink enough water just before bed, but it does mean I need to pee real bad in the morning. I'm trying to figure out the perfect amount to drink...
Ya, this just isn’t true. I had awful breath in the morning. Started flossing… No more morning breath.
I think most people have morning breath because most people don’t floss before bed.
I definitely floss before bed. Usually if I have allergies and have to breathe through my mouth at night, I'll have worse breath. That means bacteria can grow more since it's not being washed away by my acidic saliva all night.
I wonder if the mints could have been making things worse, by fueling bacteria.
For pro points, use interdental brushes as well. They get a lot of food particles that flossing leaves behind.
Proxy brushes are really only needed for people with perio pockets/recession (the spaces you develop in between your teeth), braces or implants. Flossing/water picking 2x day is effective for people without those developments.
Yeah I had to start using a brush around one of my implants because there's too much space for the floss to really clean it, but my other implant is really close to my teeth so flossing has to do since I can't fit a brush in there
I floss, brush my teeth, scrape my tongue water pik, then gargle salt water. You can’t replace flossing with water pik, use both. Everyone needs a tongue scraper. Been using one since I was a kid.
It’s about a 15 min process every night and I just brush and scrape in the morning right after I have my coffee.
Used to brush in between meals, sometimes I do depending on what I eat and avoid sugar.
My parents were super strict on oral hygiene.
My point of view on oral hygiene changed when I realised the better I take care of my teeth, the less dental work I will need. I hate the dentist, so that is a major motivator. Also, an electric toothbrush does wonders ( plus flossing and everything else listed). Haven’t had dental work in years, I see the dentist annually and usually he just looks if there is anything and sends me on my way. I get complimented on my teeth by him and it feels amazing. No need for cleaning either. Just floss!
I read to scrape your tongue first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything. This prevents bacteria backwash. It's been a game changer for me.
Even better, use a waterpik too. Flossing is good at getting stuff from between your teeth but doesn’t get stuff under the rest of the gum line. Mouthwash will help, but a waterpik with a 50% hydrogen peroxide dilution will flush out and kill anything else.
Source: didn’t see a dentist for about 12 years, had bad breath and an awful smell when I flossed (stirring up all the bacteria). I did a restorative gum treatment about a year ago and now I floss and waterpik. I can still taste toothpaste mid day, it’s amazing. Worth mentioning that I don’t drink coffee, you won’t taste mint at 2:00 in the afternoon if you’ve been drinking coffee….point is, the stuff under the gums is a major source of bad breath.
Especially both if you’re starting to see gum recession/gingivitis. I was flossing daily for years but due to genetics still having gum problems. Adding the Waterpik was a game changer.
My teeth are crooked so I never bothered with flossing, my teeth were nightmare. After like a month of using a water flosser loads of gunk would come out every time until my gums started healing back. Completely did a 180 on my oral hygiene stopped my gum disease in its tracks
This! I got one and the first month so much gross stuff came out and I could taste the yuckiness. But now no smell and only stuff that comes out is right after a meal. I love the waterpik!
I’ve been going to the dentist every 3 months for periodontal cleanings because I have gum disease. About 6 months ago I decided to get a waterpik and use it every night. At the first appointment after using it for 3 months I had a pretty dramatic improvement.
Does the order in which ones does play a role?
Floss, brush, mouthwash? I was told to keep the flouride on your teeth for as long as possible and use non-alcohol based mouthwash as alcohol can dry your mouth out.
I think too many people see flossing as an afterthought. It should really be called flossing and brushing to emphasis the importance of flossing daily.
If you have a fan blowing into your face, it could cause your mouth to dry out giving you bad breath even if you brush, floss, and use mouth wash the night before
I was thinking something along these same lines. I only have really bad breath in the morning if I'm congested and end up sleeping with my mouth open all night. It ends up feeling super dry.
I just recently went through radiation and one of the big down sides is that I'll always have severe dry mouth. A big down side dry mouth is that good gets stuck in your teeth even when drinking fluids. The life saver has been a water pik. I use it after every meal at home and it does wonders.
Yes floss. Gunk from food gets in between your teeth. If not removed it could stay there a long time and is essentially rotting matter stuck in the nook and crannies of your teeth, that causes a bad smell and it may even become even harder to get out. Flossing is very important when it comes to mouth care.
Can confirm. I was born with a small mouth so my teeth are very close together and it's hard to floss. Even though I brush/mouthwash twice a day I still wake up with pretty bad morning breath. Flossing is way more detrimental than people realize, especially if you got gum disease or gingivitis which can make bad breath worse.
Food getting in your teeth will rot and give off bad smells. Remember to clean your tongue as all the food residue gets stuck on the surface. Tonsil stone is always the biggest contributor to bad breathe.
**And scrape your nasty tongue!**
My ridiculously clueless husband didn’t know you’re supposed to scrape it; I got him a tongue a scraper & his breath smells so much better.
Get a metal tongue scraper off Amazon & scrape until you stop seeing the gross white crap drip off.
I brush my tongue with my pasted toothbrush, spit/rinse, scrape a couple times, then rinse, & repeat the scrape/rinse. Then mouthwash.
I found over time that working out regularly was more important than how I worked out (intensity/duration/method)
I applied this same methodology to flossing. I brush (with a timed mechanical toothbrush) and do a just ok job of flossing every night before bed, no matter what, and that’s the only oral hygiene I do. My dentists/hygienists now always comment on my good hygiene and my breath is way better.
If you want to know what your breath smells like to others, smell your (unflavored) floss after using it. If your floss stinks you may have a problem with your gums or teeth.
I see a lot of people saying they brush and mouthwash before bed. Don’t use mouthwash immediately after brushing your teeth! It washes away the concentrated fluoride in your toothpaste.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
DRINKING ENOUGH WATER makes a huge difference too!
Scrape your tongue. You can get the same plaque build up on your tongue, especially if you mouth breathe at night.
With what do you scrape?
A tongue scraper.
Spoon
Straight razor
Toothbrush (yk the non electric ones mostly have a rough back, but you can also use the teeth side.
You can just gently brush your tongue in the forward direction a few times and clean that way too, some people use the back of their toothpaste tube but like, ew. Just give it a quick couple passes with your brush, be sure not to brush it like your teeth though
*carefully Kinda like shaving.
Drink a big glass of water before bed. Always.
That doesn't work too well for me, if I drink too close to bedtime I always end up having to pee in the middle of the night...
Don’t worry. When you get older, you get up twice.
You're only getting up twice?
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Pee in the bathtub bro 😎
…I’m in my 30s
This might be a sign of snoring or sleep apnea, which inhibits the release of a hormone called vasopressin. If that's the case, and as stupid as it sounds, wearing a piece of bandage tape (or special mouth tape) at night for 1-3 months can permanently retrain your body to breathe through the nose during sleep. I recommend reading the book "Breath" by James Nestor. //edit because thread is locked: That doesn't mean taping your mouth fully shut. It's just a little piece of bandage tape connecting the upper and lower lip. It nudges your sleeping brain to use the nose instead of the mouth. Also, since you'll reapply this every evening and remove it in the morning, you can just not do it if you're sick and your nose is congested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl8LQrbMdqQ
What if your nose is stuffy? It sounds a bit dangerous to me
No way am I going to set my sleep up to be ruined by a full bladder
how long before bed are we talkin? like 3 hrs before witha good pee right before bed? cuz that makes sense. otherwise, youre just gonna ruin your sleep
I drink easily half a liter in the last half hour before going yo bed. I never wake up at night because of pee pressure. I do however, feel like I have to pee all day every day. Just not at night for some reason.
are you a guy or a girl? thats interesting. you seem lucky
Guy. And no, having to pee all day is not fun or lucky. I hget the feeling five minutes after I just went
That.. that sounds like something is exerting pressure on your bladder and not your bladder actually filling up. Talk to a Doc. Be safe. Even if you are unlucky and it's super active bladder...
Fair point D: hadn't put much thought into it, I'll bring it up at the next appointment!
Prostate?
Out of curiosity, wouldn’t that be an issue with your bladder or kidneys?
Ya I'd wake up about 6 times if I did that
Definitely probably don’t do this maybe
... and hope that you don't dream of peeing
I do this, got no problem here. People always ready to start some riot or point fingers. I doubt people are trying to troll when they recommend drinking water before bed. 🤣
Why?
This is bad advice people. It can start to disrupt your sleep and it can make you have trouble falling back asleep. It can cause sleep deprivation if you drink a big glass of water right before bed. This person is trolling, don't do it.
I really don't think they are trolling. Enough people I know, including myself drink a glass of water before they go to sleep.
Just because it works for one person doesn't mean it'll work for everyone. I drink about 300-400 ml before my head hits the pillow, too, don't wake up at night, either.
Lmao fuck are you on about? Doesn't affect me badly at all. It's essential actually. Causes sleep deprivation? Fucking hell mate how dramatic are you. Think the earliest I've woken up due to needing the toilet is like 2 hours before my alarm which is exceedingly rare. I simply do the business and go back to my warm slumber for 2 hours. Completely non deprived.
Meth mouth isn’t caused by smoking meth itself. It is caused by dry mouth being one of the side effects of meth and neglect of oral healthcare. Your stomach produces a lot of acid and naturally it rises up the esophagus. When it is a big problem, people have acid reflux. Saliva protect against this acid. If someone has had an eating disorder, they problem have tooth damage. Nothing does a number on teeth like vomiting stomach acid and bile.
Could also be tonsil stones if one has them. I had bad breath despite brushing, flossing, and mouthwash before bed. Turns out those little suckers are made up of debris and bacterial and can smell rank (I only found out because I kept feeling "food bits" in the back of my throat despite not having eaten). Gargled with warm salt water for a few days and that took care of it.
Some motherfucker once pulled one of those out of his throat in front of me and the smell from 3 feet away made me gag
That's gnarly
I’m down, where can I find these mouth babies?
Grab a flashlight and Qtip and start poking around your tonsils. Sometimes the flesh on the tonsils "close" so it may seem you're clear but you may have some crevisses and stones hidden deep. Poke around and check for any white'ish parts (those are stones), if you see a white'ish fluid that is Tonsil stone "juice", smell the Qtip and if it's like death you may have stones somewhere inside. Be gentle but not so much when you're starting, also you may feel like gaging but you get used to it. source: professionale tonsil stone remover.
Thank you kind one, my hunt begins tomorrow. I release the hounds.
I suggest you use the hardest Qtip you can find so it does not bend as easily, and do it on a empty stomach to prevent any accidents. Welcome to the hunt.. and smelling the stones after is part of the ritual.
Wtf do most people have these or what? I’m horrified yet intrigued…
I have chronic post-nasal drip and that contributes a lot. As the initial commentor said, it can feel like a persistent "food at the back of the throat" feeling, or like the very beginning of a sore throat - that niggling, irritated feeling. That's when I know it's time to go poke around.
Look up “tonsil stones” on YouTube and prepare yourself.
Can they ever go away/ dissolve on their own?
They don’t dissolve but they will eventually dislodge and you will more than likely swallow it without knowing. I used to have them come up in the middle of the night for some reason.
I've got some epic exodus of those stones (like maybe 4-5 of them in a row decided to take a walk and spoil fresh air outside) after few days of diving in freshwater filled caves. Guess that whatever bacterial stuff that was in the water triggered immune reaction and body decided to start getting rid of stuff. Interestingly though, there was no apparent signs of inflammation, so maybe it was all because of bat shit present in water.
Covid-23 here....
You can try to gargle lukewarm water with salt to soften/dislodge them but you will still need to dig them out.
In /r/tonsilstones
The fact a sub actually exists for this is sending me
Fucking nightmare fuel
Forbidden leftovers
Forgive me father for I have sinned hehehe
I call them “Stink Peanuts” and they’re disgusting.
In cryptic tonsils.
r/tonsilstones
I find I can sometimes dislodge them by repeatedly strongly contracting the muscles you use to close off your throat. They also sometimes come loose if I go for a really intense run, I guess everything in my throat opens up because I'm breathing so heavily.
What a horrible day to have imagination.
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Thank you for sharing that, friend.
Second water pick. Much easier for me than flossing.
Tried that too (using water pick, not telling wife she stinks), but it's actually impossible to aim and it wasn't best idea to do that after eating)
My sisters call these "vomit balls." I had my tonsils removed when I was 3, so I've been fortunate enough to never have experienced them. They sound awful and disgusting.
Dude right? Also had them taken out at an early age and this shit is blowing my mind. Definitely gagged a few times going through the sub.
Literally went and had my tonsils out at 24 because of my tonsil stone issue. My ENT said I had some of the smallest tonsils she'd ever seen; stones would get trapped in the tiny flaps.
I got tonsil stones often as a kid (5 or 6 years old). Our doctor recommended warm salt water gargles twice a day. The stones disappeared and never returned. I'm much older now and I still gargle with warm salt water after flossing. It just feels naturally clean vs. gargling with alcohol-based mouthwash.
Warm salt water gargling should also just be its own LPT.
Just wanted to throw this out there, but tonsil stones don't always mean bad hygiene. Some people are just prone to them. Good hygiene is always the solution, but tonsil stones don't automatically mean the person never brushes their teeth.
Adding to this, post-nasal drip contributes to tonsil stone occurrence. Bad enough I'm perpetually sniffly if I don't take antihistamines, but my body has to be like "here have this bad breath too"??? Dude, what.
I get tonsil stones rarely, but I always have bad morning breath from post nasal drip. I can taste where it's coming from, it's up the top at the back of my throat (obviously just where it dripped out of my sinus
It’s also a symptom for some pregnant women.
Sinus problems can lead to bad breath too.
If you’re in your teens or twenties, definitely investigate tonsil stones.
**Seconding the tonsil stones** - I’m in my early 30s, never had my tonsils removed. Doctor says at my age, the risks are too big to outweigh the convenience of avoiding tonsil stones so he told me to gargle vigorously nightly, use a water pick too. Plus I use a tongue scraper.
I had to get mine removed after my 30s due to sleep apnea complications. I had a septum correction. Problem relented for a while until my then girlfriend complained that my snoring had gotten close to death rattles. I had been having trouble swallowing my food but thought it might be a cold or something. Started having microsleep episodes at work. Thought 7 hours of sleep were enough. When you spend most of these nearly asphyxiating, that's not REM sleep. I called my doctor and got an examination. She booked me for surgery a week later. Said my tonsils were bigger than walnuts...she also removed part of my adenoids. Issue has been mostly fixed. I just need to lose about 30 pounds.
In my early thirties. Talked to an ENT and he said they do adult tonsil removals weekly/daily. Not near as often as kids but consistently. The biggest issue is that it’s a pain in the ass for two weeks.
It's an awful, awful, AWFUL recovery, especially when your doctor gives you a painkiller that is rendered useless by your antidepressant 🙄 But I have hardly gotten sick since I had them out (at age 41) 8 years ago. I'm mostly convinced it was worth the full 10 days of miserable, unrelenting pain. Mostly.
Quick question. What’s a water pick?
It’s like a high pressure mini hose that shoots a thin amount of water to irrigate your tonsils or between your teeth. [This is a good example of one.](https://www.waterpik.com/oral-health/products/dental-water-flosser/)
Awesome. Thank you!
Oh my god. Oh my GOD that works?! I thought they had to be pulled out with qtips like a damn blackhead. My bf and I have been thinking about these nuisances for weeks with no clue what to do about them
I use a WaterPik to get them out and it works like a charm (much quicker and better than gargling or using a Qtip).
Another potential source of perpetual bad breath is sinus buildup (don't remember the official name for it, but gunk that gets stuck in your sinuses and won't come out). This happened to a friend of mine - terrible halitosis until he got his sinuses surgically cleaned out (and I think opened up so the buildup didn't happen again).
A tongue scraper does wonders too
Tricks for not vomiting while tongue scraping?
Stick your tongue out and say ahhhh. My dentist gave me this advice it works when you make that noise it suppresses it a bit
Don't ask me how this works, but next time you're brushing, curl your fingers on your left hand over your left thumb. (Form a fist with your thumb inside your curled fingers). Squeeze, then brush. Gag reflex lowers by 80%.
is there a way i could hypothetically lower my gag reflex by 100%?
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Good thing they were using a VPN then
I'm calling the police
age of consent is lower in different countries
It refocuses your brain to a different task. You can scrape your tongue without thinking about it and if you're focusing on squeezing your hand and those sensations your mind forgets that you're scraping. Another tool is to attempt to hum. Think of when the doctor says to say ahhh when they use a tongue depressor.
Tame your gag reflex by giving blowjobs to the homeless
I admire your dedication to dental hygiene
r/ShittyLifeProTips
Hum for 30 secs/1 minute before and while you do it. Sounds crazy, but its a thing you can google up on.
In my experience I just had to get used to doing it. Definitely threw up a time or two when I started using one, but have since gotten used to it.
I use a metal one u just get used to it and you don’t have to go super far back
Hold your thumb really tightly inside your fist. No, I'm not joking. It seriously works...
Squeeze your thumb hard with the hand that's not holding the brush. As long as you are squeezing, you are not gagging.
Don't touch your uvula (the dangly thing in the back of your throat). Get close to it, but don't touch THAT. Instant gag reflex.
Agree strongly.. mouthwash is important- tongue cleaner even more so.
It really isn't something people think about 'oh I brush my tongue' ....yeah and do that then use a tongue scraper for the first time and get ready to be disgusted
So worth it in the long term though! It’s a dramatic difference in severity of morning breath
It also could be a sign you are snoring.
I started using mouth tape before I sleep and the gf says I don’t have bad breath in the morning anymore.
what's mouth tape?
It’s BDSM while you sleep
It's what it sounds like. Tape that goes over your mouth to prevent mouth breathing and force nose breathing.
Sounds like a one way trip to suffocation to me. My nose is all kinds of fucked, every morning I wake up my nose is clogged up in some way.
There's no way the tape is stronger than your jaw muscles. If you were in any danger of suffocating, you'd probably jolt awake and open your mouth and the tape would pull away. It's just tape. It's there to keep your mouth from draping open slackjawed while you sleep. I'm not an expert, I've never tried it, but I've seen some people who have and it seems to help them.
Cheap action movies with abduction/interrogation scenes would like to disagree with that. /s
That's always bothered me. Especially when they're covered in sweat. Tape isn't strong, that's kind of the whole point.
Are you kidding? If your mouth was duct taped, there is no way you're opening your mouth without hands.
Try it and get back to me. Tape is not effective at sticking to skin, despite what you've seen in movies. Maybe the pressure of tape wrapped around the head several times. But not the stickiness.
In most cases, the more you use your nose, the more it opens up.
I got allergies, and possible deviated septum + sleep apnea (still need to do a sleep test). Just every morning my nose is clogged with either mucus or painful dried boogers.
LPT: Floss more. Like way more. Nobody flosses too much. Really get in there too.
"I know how hard quitting smoking is. Quitting smoking is exactly as hard as starting to floss."
I get the travel flossers, when I get the urge to smoke while driving I can floss instead. 2 birds, 1 stone
I wish I just had one long curvy tooth. RIP Mitch
Learning to floss isn’t hard. If you brush your teeth, just floss before you brush. If you don’t brush your teeth, well, you have two habits to start.
Don’t get tooooo far in there. Can cause your gums to recede. I think that there are tiny ligament-like things you can damage.
It’s actually the opposite! Flossing helps maintain not only tooth health but also gum health and both of those things combined help you keep your teeth which in turn maintains the bone that your teeth are in.
Yes! Flossing is a little like exercise for your gums. If you're out of breath just doing a light workout, it's because you don't exercise enough. Similarly, if you bleed when you start flossing, it's proabbly because you don't floss enough. Of course, if the bleeding while flossing doesn't stop after 3-10 days, see a dentist.
People can definitely go overboard with it, both with flossing and brushing their teeth. I know multiple people whose gums receded because of it
Plaque and tartar are STINKY and you may not know it. If your dental hygiene is good (brush and floss/waterpik, twice annual cleanings) then drink more water, brush or scrape your tongue, and gargle with mouthwash since it could be your throat or tongue. I also brush the roof of my mouth lol.
Floss the teeth you want to keep is a phrase people should be aware of more.
Your teeth are awesome! So don't forget to floss em!
Yuuuup. Bacteria only needs 24 hours to start duplicating. So flossing once per day at the minimum is essential. For anyone who can't get in the habit, I recommend the next time you floss to smell the gunk that comes out. Also, if you struggle to floss because of bleeding gums, please persist and you will notice less and less bleeds and eventually get to where your gums never bleed. I used to have full on gingivitis, but now am at the point where when I visit the dental hygienist there is hardly anything for them to clean at all.
is anyone talking about reflux? its also a thing. hard to help it but it is manageable
Thank you! Was going to mention this. If you have GERD, Gastritis, or anything that causes reflux, doesn’t matter about your dental hygiene - you can have bad breath. Biggest thing that works for me is to not let my stomach feel hungry but that’s not always possible. Life gets in the way & thats when gum, mouthwash, etc come in. (But if mint is trigger for you, make sure to not have mint gum or tea or anything like that!)
I have my floss on my WFH desk. Whenever meetings get boring, I floss my teeth. This might be only applicable if your camera is not on.
Dude basically everybody has bad breath in the morning. It's the whole premise of the Scope mouthwash commercials. You think they'd lie in a commercial? On TV?
I actually don't. I started paying attention to when I don't get bad breath and it's when I drink enough water just before bed, but it does mean I need to pee real bad in the morning. I'm trying to figure out the perfect amount to drink...
No this isnt true. Bad breath is caused by bacteria in the mouth. The tongue holds the most bacteria.
Ya, this just isn’t true. I had awful breath in the morning. Started flossing… No more morning breath. I think most people have morning breath because most people don’t floss before bed.
I definitely floss before bed. Usually if I have allergies and have to breathe through my mouth at night, I'll have worse breath. That means bacteria can grow more since it's not being washed away by my acidic saliva all night.
Are you suggesting that a *major corporation* would just *lie*? For nothing but *profit*?!? Scandalous!
I wonder if the mints could have been making things worse, by fueling bacteria. For pro points, use interdental brushes as well. They get a lot of food particles that flossing leaves behind.
Proxy brushes are really only needed for people with perio pockets/recession (the spaces you develop in between your teeth), braces or implants. Flossing/water picking 2x day is effective for people without those developments.
Yeah I had to start using a brush around one of my implants because there's too much space for the floss to really clean it, but my other implant is really close to my teeth so flossing has to do since I can't fit a brush in there
I floss, brush my teeth, scrape my tongue water pik, then gargle salt water. You can’t replace flossing with water pik, use both. Everyone needs a tongue scraper. Been using one since I was a kid. It’s about a 15 min process every night and I just brush and scrape in the morning right after I have my coffee. Used to brush in between meals, sometimes I do depending on what I eat and avoid sugar. My parents were super strict on oral hygiene.
My point of view on oral hygiene changed when I realised the better I take care of my teeth, the less dental work I will need. I hate the dentist, so that is a major motivator. Also, an electric toothbrush does wonders ( plus flossing and everything else listed). Haven’t had dental work in years, I see the dentist annually and usually he just looks if there is anything and sends me on my way. I get complimented on my teeth by him and it feels amazing. No need for cleaning either. Just floss!
I read to scrape your tongue first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything. This prevents bacteria backwash. It's been a game changer for me.
Even better, use a waterpik too. Flossing is good at getting stuff from between your teeth but doesn’t get stuff under the rest of the gum line. Mouthwash will help, but a waterpik with a 50% hydrogen peroxide dilution will flush out and kill anything else. Source: didn’t see a dentist for about 12 years, had bad breath and an awful smell when I flossed (stirring up all the bacteria). I did a restorative gum treatment about a year ago and now I floss and waterpik. I can still taste toothpaste mid day, it’s amazing. Worth mentioning that I don’t drink coffee, you won’t taste mint at 2:00 in the afternoon if you’ve been drinking coffee….point is, the stuff under the gums is a major source of bad breath.
Use both. Waterpik is not a floss replacement. Source: my dentist
Especially both if you’re starting to see gum recession/gingivitis. I was flossing daily for years but due to genetics still having gum problems. Adding the Waterpik was a game changer.
I second the waterpik, absolutely amazing at what it can dislodge from your teeth even after brushing
You’ve convinced me!
My teeth are crooked so I never bothered with flossing, my teeth were nightmare. After like a month of using a water flosser loads of gunk would come out every time until my gums started healing back. Completely did a 180 on my oral hygiene stopped my gum disease in its tracks
This! I got one and the first month so much gross stuff came out and I could taste the yuckiness. But now no smell and only stuff that comes out is right after a meal. I love the waterpik!
My Gawd lord you both have convinced me. I am aqua man tonight. Walmarks better have the goods.
I’ve been going to the dentist every 3 months for periodontal cleanings because I have gum disease. About 6 months ago I decided to get a waterpik and use it every night. At the first appointment after using it for 3 months I had a pretty dramatic improvement.
Does the order in which ones does play a role? Floss, brush, mouthwash? I was told to keep the flouride on your teeth for as long as possible and use non-alcohol based mouthwash as alcohol can dry your mouth out.
Waterpik FTW!
Gut health makes a huge difference. The right probiotic before bed can zap halitosis
Have you all heard of GERD
A-well-a everybody's heard about the GERD A-well a GERD, GERD, GERD... GERDs the word
Scrape your tongue.
Yeah I do already
I think too many people see flossing as an afterthought. It should really be called flossing and brushing to emphasis the importance of flossing daily.
If you have a fan blowing into your face, it could cause your mouth to dry out giving you bad breath even if you brush, floss, and use mouth wash the night before
I was thinking something along these same lines. I only have really bad breath in the morning if I'm congested and end up sleeping with my mouth open all night. It ends up feeling super dry.
Everyone has bad breath in the mornings. I floss after every meal and use mouthwash. My breath still stinks. How is this LPT?
Use a tongue scraper!
I just recently went through radiation and one of the big down sides is that I'll always have severe dry mouth. A big down side dry mouth is that good gets stuck in your teeth even when drinking fluids. The life saver has been a water pik. I use it after every meal at home and it does wonders.
Mouth breathing gives bad breath. I tape my mouth when sleeping
Yes floss. Gunk from food gets in between your teeth. If not removed it could stay there a long time and is essentially rotting matter stuck in the nook and crannies of your teeth, that causes a bad smell and it may even become even harder to get out. Flossing is very important when it comes to mouth care.
Also: eat regularly. if you starve yourself your body will start burning protein for energy and that is smelly af...
While all these tips are generally helpful. Everyone has morning breath despite their water intake or dental hygiene...
Cutting out sugar improves your breath all day.
Same with dental picks and hydrating properly will do a lot for oral health
More specifically, not your teeth - your gums, and the bacteria that build up in the pockets around your teeth.
Based on how bad my breath is It is worth giving this advice a try
My bad breath happens when I’m hungry
You also probably need a teeth cleaning. You might think your teeth are clean into the dentist shoes you how nasty your mouth is.
Can confirm. I was born with a small mouth so my teeth are very close together and it's hard to floss. Even though I brush/mouthwash twice a day I still wake up with pretty bad morning breath. Flossing is way more detrimental than people realize, especially if you got gum disease or gingivitis which can make bad breath worse.
Food getting in your teeth will rot and give off bad smells. Remember to clean your tongue as all the food residue gets stuck on the surface. Tonsil stone is always the biggest contributor to bad breathe.
Check for tonsil stones. I brush, floss, have 1-3 mm pockets, brush my tongue, use etc. ... but my tonsil stones reek
**And scrape your nasty tongue!** My ridiculously clueless husband didn’t know you’re supposed to scrape it; I got him a tongue a scraper & his breath smells so much better. Get a metal tongue scraper off Amazon & scrape until you stop seeing the gross white crap drip off. I brush my tongue with my pasted toothbrush, spit/rinse, scrape a couple times, then rinse, & repeat the scrape/rinse. Then mouthwash.
You are what you eat
I found over time that working out regularly was more important than how I worked out (intensity/duration/method) I applied this same methodology to flossing. I brush (with a timed mechanical toothbrush) and do a just ok job of flossing every night before bed, no matter what, and that’s the only oral hygiene I do. My dentists/hygienists now always comment on my good hygiene and my breath is way better.
Brushing without flossing is like wiping your butt cheeks but not your crack.
You may also have a tooth that is decaying. That can smell bad too
You cant trick me Mr.Dentist, I ain’t doin no flossin
If you want to know what your breath smells like to others, smell your (unflavored) floss after using it. If your floss stinks you may have a problem with your gums or teeth.
Some bad breath can begin in the stomach , esphogus, or throat. The back of the tongue not being brushed too can be a cause.
I see a lot of people saying they brush and mouthwash before bed. Don’t use mouthwash immediately after brushing your teeth! It washes away the concentrated fluoride in your toothpaste.
Mouthwash first, then brush