How to Avoid Having Bad Breath in Ramadan

Bad breath or halitosis is one of the embarrassing problems that many fasting people face in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

As a result of fasting and abstaining from food and drink for a rather long time, some individuals may not smell their bad breath due to the nose adapting to this smell and getting used to it.

Here are the most common reasons for the presence of bad breath, how tell if you have it and what are it’s treatments.

Causes of bad breath:

There are many causes of oral halitosis, it may be due to neglecting teeth cleaning or having problems in your body and other reasons we will review some of them:

• Lack of oral hygiene: Irregular use of toothbrushes, mouthwash and oral flossing leads to the proliferation of bacteria in the mouth (plaques) that cause bad breath in addition to decay and gum disease.

• Abstaining from food and drink for several hours (as happens during fasting), which reduces the stimulation of saliva and thus dry mouth, and when the mouth becomes dry, bacteria accumulate on the gums and around the mouth and begin to rot, to emit a bad smell during speaking.
• Some types of foods such as garlic and onions, and increasing the amount of spices.

• Smoking.

Ramadan bad breath tests:

Wrist test:

• (This test only tells us if there is a bad breath on the front of the tongue)

• First, lick your wrist with your tongue
• Wait for the saliva to dry for 10 seconds
• Sniff your wrist from a distance of three centimeters.

Spoon test:

• (This test tells us if there is bad breath at the back of the tongue, which is usually the source of bad breath.)
• Choose a spoon
• Put the spoon upside down in your mouth
• Gently allow the spoon to scrape from the top of the tongue
• You can smell saliva on a spoon.

Plastic bags test:

It is one of the methods that are used at times in scientific studies, where you can bring a plastic bag and blow on it, and then smell the scent in it.

Dental floss test:

You can simply floss your teeth (especially the back teeth), then sniff the floss from about three centimeters away and confirm the result. {2}

Treatment of bad breath during fasting:

Toothpaste:

It is the ideal and usual way to maintain dental health and get rid of annoying mouth odor, as some Islamic scholars have ruled that it is permissible to use toothpaste and tooth rinse as long as it does not enter the throat cavity or be swallowed by the fasting person.

But if you do not prefer that while fasting, you can make sure to brush your teeth after both Iftar and Suhoor and after eating any meal in between, for a period of not less than two minutes, and in the correct manner.

Cleaning the tongue:

Since the back of the tongue is one of the common sources of bad breath, the tongue can be cleaned by rinsing with water and salt, which kills the bacteria that cause annoying breath, or using a tongue scraper that gets rid of the bacteria on the surface of the tongue and is sold in pharmacies.

Regularly drinking water outside of fasting times:

And the commitment to drink the necessary amount for your body daily, and rinsing during the process of ablution during the period of fasting helps in reducing bad breath.

Using the miswak (Arak stick):

Many Muslims use toothpicks to clean their teeth because it is Sunnah according to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who used to use it.

Many recent studies have proven the importance of miswak and its effectiveness in maintaining oral and dental health, including a study conducted by Swedish researchers in 2008 that showed that miswak is able to kill bacteria that cause gum disease.

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