My husband has bad breath. Like all the time. It’s gotten worse lately.
It wasn’t always like this but as he’s aged (he’s in his 40s now) it’s gotten so bad. The weird thing is, he’s healthier than ever. He flosses and brushes his teeth often. He eats relatively healthy. He goes to the dentist regularly. He exercises.
Even after he brushes his teeth it’s bad. I’ve told him about it before in a nice way and he stopped kissing me out of embarrassment. Then he really upped his oral hygiene (not that it was even bad).
Lately it’s really bad though and I’m super sensitive to smells. I have a hard time being intimate or even kissing him because the smell turns me off.
We always brush our teeth before being intimate so it’s not that. He drinks a lot of black tea and smokes a lot of weed.
It’s weird because the smell seems like it’s coming from deep inside him or something. He’s been checked for GERD and he doesn’t have it. I don’t know what to do because I’d like to be intimate and I don’t want to embarrass him, he’s so sensitive, but irs so bad.
Bad breathe ruining intimacy
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Tonsil stones?
The weed
Join r/tonsilstones
He might have a cavity in a tooth, a cracked tooth that you can’t see, or tonsil stones. Cavities aren’t always painful. Sometimes they’re superficial and just stink. He might even have an infection in the bone itself. I had that in my upper jaw. It made my breath stink but I never noticed it because your nose gets accustomed to stuff it smells all the time.
Get him to a dentist. Get them to look, get an xray taken. Then take it from there.
Just say something like “Oh, I think I saw that you have a cracked tooth” you don’t have to say his breath stinks. Should get him into the dentist.. Little white lie.
Tonsil stones.
Has he seen a dentist?
It’s definitely the weed. My friends that smoke weed always have this weird breath smell idk why
Yea he def has tonsil stones ..tell him to up his gargle game, only way to get rid of halitosis
Water flosser and a check for cavities.
I have a super sensitive nose and I can tell if someone near me has a cavity. It’s a very distinct, almost decomposing smell.
For the last time, I don’t want a breath mint.
If he is taking care of his mouth, then he needs to go to the doctor. This is a health issue. Tell him!
He needs to go to a doctor. That happened to a family member, for years, and got so bad you could not even face him when he talked. Finally went to the doctor. Ends up it was a stomach ulcer (or something like that, it was so long ago I don’t remember exactly.) But I do remember that all he had to do was take a certain antibiotic, and the problem was solved.
There are plenty of ways to be intimate with your partner that don’t involve mouth on mouth contact. Perhaps practice with something more innocuous? Mouth on hand, cheek? Then move on to feet, armpits, genitalia, and then maybe try for mouth again. Who knows? Maybe after a month of mouth south of the belt line, the mouth might not seem so bad? This is just my two cents as a happily married yet disgusting homunculus of a human being.
What is his diet like?
Might be halitosis
Doctor for medicine.
Could be an esophageal ulcer or stomach ulcer. My wife smelled it on me because my breath had changed for the worse although I practice good hygiene and also workout. They were minor and healed with some aloe juice but had to be diagnosed with an endoscopy. Hope this helps.
More than likely it is tonsil stones. Especially if it smells a bit like feces or something rotten.
Tea stains your teeth worse than coffee .Might need deep gum cleaning . Cavity .Smoking weed isn’t going to make your breath smelll better
Have him go to a Gastro dr
The stank may be coming up from his gut
Gut health could be off. Or tonsil stones.
Is he taking any type of supplements and/or medications?
Maybe have him ask an ENT
Sinus issues maybe?
Have him switch to gummies instead of weed. See if that helps. My parent had a horrible issue we got them TheraBreath and that was the magic stuff! Worked great.
It could be a digestive issue or diabetes
It’s possibly his gums.
He needs to go back to the dentist.
They will have to do some treatments plus antibiotics
Microbiome
Could be tonsil stones or a cavity, like others have mentioned. But just wondering, does he eat low carb by chance? You mentioned him eating healthier. Eating low carb (ketosis) can cause extremely bad breath
My sister had terrible breath even as a child. I think it had something to do with adenoids.
Possible reasons:
To fix, go to dentist and mention the issues. Also go to doctor and mention the issues in case it is lower down. Get a water flosser and blast out tonsil stones. If it is very bad and doesn’t respond to cleaning of the crevices, might have to remove them.
Cut the tea down and drink much more water, can chew gum sometimes to stimulate saliva. Reduce the pot. Use a water flosser and tongue scraper. Treat any conditions a professional should treat. And he can use Therabreath light green bottle, the original. It contains a chemical that works well to freshen breath.
Edit another reason is diet (smelly food ingredients) or genetics
Could also be gunk in places toothbrushes and floss can’t hit. Might be worth trying a water flosser once in a while, or interdental brushes.
Another possibility is digestion issues. Its probably something that he’s eating that’s causing stank breath. Usually dairy products are the culprit. When the stank is coming from the stomach, no amount of brushing or flossing will mask it.
Is he on any medication?
Yeah, this is likely a medical issue. My ex-husband had the same problem – good oral hygiene, ate well, etc., and his breath was still AWFUL. It turned out he had some sort of infection (I don’t remember the specifics, it was a long time ago) that dentists had missed because it wasn’t specific to his teeth or gums. The smell was essentially poison emanating from his body. Have a very gentle conversation with him about seeing a doctor.
Get him some Xylitol gum. Works like a charm.
Halitosis is the name given by the medical establishment.
Oral probiotics?
Send him to the dentist immediately.
Bad breath can be a symptom of diabetes.
When people are in good ketosis their breath often smells bad because of the bacteria in the gut. It’s a really messed up scenario because it’s caused by really good gut health.
Tonsil stones!
The one person I knew with horrid breath turned out to have a chronic lung infection. Took a while to cure it, but that did fix it.
So tell him to get checked by a doctor asap.
GERD
Gut biome can make you stinky from both ends. When I do a keto diet I am a lot more pleasant, but that level of adjustment usually isn’t necessary.
Tonsil stones is a good bet though
What happens if he chews a bunch of altoids right before?
Does he take any other meds? My mom at one point took a daily pill that made her breath smell bad.
Is he on keto? Basically not eating carbs?
Keto made my breath smell like death, regardless of oral hygiene.
Tonsil stones; post nasal drip could be a cause as well and especially if he smokes, you didn’t say what the breath smells like so can’t further assist you. Tonsil stones have a distinct smell.
Have him use Closys mouthwash
My dad had really bad breathe for years and then “out of nowhere” diagnosed with Oropharyngeal cancer.
Sinus issues?
He may have a sinus infection. The smell is atrocious. A nasal rinse can clear it up.
I did read xylitol helps
Tonsil stones?
Altoids and get down!
Could be diabetes. Ask him to get checked for it. I had stinky breath for years and couldn’t figure it out. Then I switched dentist’s and the new one said to get checked. Type 1 diabetes was the result. Happy and healthy now. Thanks to an alert dentist.
Lungs?
Dentist?
I had that. Use Thera breath mouthwash and biotene lozenges. I am a drinker and weed smoker. My wife complained for a while. Then I did the mouthwash and lozenges (1 in the morning and 1 at night). Also I tried some probiotics
Has a third party confirmed his breath stinks?
Some people have a psychological hate of their partners smell.
Tongue scraper. Preferably a metal one that’s kinda a u-shape. As far back in the mouth as possible, till it makes him gag. You’d be surprised what you scrape up.
It totally worked for me.
Tonsil stones
dry mouth. and we get older and it gets worse (dry mouth I mean). even as little as small gerd or peotic ulcer or even candida overgrowth
Does he get post nasal drip? That can affect breath. He should see his doctor.
it’s not about oral hygiene. it’s gut flora. read about making fresh buttermilk daily.
Just be honest about having an affair… crowd sourcing internal reasons and excuses isn’t Reddit’s job…. ever… or is it? 🥸
He needs a doctor. He may have something uncommon like a Zenker’s diverticulum.
Tonsil stones is what is sounds like!
I’m a dental assistant and take such good care of my teeth and still struggled with bad breath and eventually put two and two together and figured out it was tonsil stones. I got my tonsils removed as an adult and thank god I did! No more stones=no more bad breath=more confidence
Does he have allergies or takes an inhaler? My husband does and the inhaler causes him to have thrush in the back of his throat. It’s like a rotten sweet smell and ya, instant hit in the face when he leans in for a kiss. I suggest he gets checked out. Could be meds causing thrush .
Try getting TheraBreath Oral Rinse- leave it by the toothbrushes, use it yourself, and don’t mention it to him. He’ll use it in secret likely at first if it doesn’t come up. See if it helps. If you notice he’s using it too, even if it doesn’t help, I think the act of him using it will be a form of acceptance that he has it. He will get used to the idea that his stinky breath isn’t all of who he is and something that can be fixed if he wants to. There are many things that are left to try. And if he starts trying it he’ll also maybe hope he can get rid of his in time. He might feel excited that the rinse may solve the issue. Once he lets himself hope he might leave denial that it’s a problem Hopefully with his acceptance with your affection and love, he will slowly become less defensive about it and you guys can talk openly about it and figure it out together
Honestly, the best food for you is the smelliest so this kind of makes sense in a way.
Maybe he has gingivitis or some gum condition, maybe he has a gut biome thing going on?
Or Halitosis?
Oral dental probiotics helps a lot.
My husband had the same thing and he had mid stage periodontitis and an infected tooth along with severe decay. Since your husband goes to the dentist and they didn’t find anything I suggest it is probably tonsil stones. They cause incredibly horrid breath. He should ask the dentist if they can remove them for him.
Is he a mouth breather?
He’s not “healthier than ever” if he has halitosis. He needs to see a doc asap or at the very least a dentist
Happened with my brother in law recently and it turned out to be new meds he was prescribed causing it. I hope he finds the cause and you can get lots of happy kisses again 💋
Tell him to stop smoking weed for a week or two and see if it gets better.
Does he use a cpap? This is killing my husband… or me, via the breath. He’s been using a system for dry mouth (toothpaste, gel, mouthwash) and it’s helped. He also deals with gerd.
My boyfriend had been smoking weed for 20 years. He has bad breath and was tolerable since he brushed his teeth before being intimate. He just quit due to health scare and all the bad breath I’d been smelling was gone literally. I didn’t think it was coming from weed but as soon as he quit, the bad breath was gone. He was a huge weed smoker every day. He quit for good and he doesn’t have bad breath anymore even if he doesn’t brush his teeth.
SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) is yet another thing that can cause bad breath. I’ll chime in with everyone else and say he should be worked up be a doctor and a dentist (in either order). Keep going until you find an explanation—it isn’t normal and could indicate health issues, plus it’s affecting your relationship.
Best of luck!
Candida in OroPharynx
Periodontal Disease is a disease that most dental providers will not diagnose or knowingly ignore. I am the Lead Dental Assistant in the Dental Office I work in and the amount of malpractice I see from undiagnosed perio is heartbreaking. My point is while yes, he may go to the dentist regularly, do they diagnose this disease? We are the only office in my area that has a periodontal protocol in place. The other offices “do not diagnose perio” so when their 20+ year patients come see us, they’re periodontally advanced requiring a referral to a periodontist or full mouth extractions due to severe mobility. Do they measure the health of his gums? Check for radiographic bone loss? Periodontal Disease causes bad breath and has a very distinct smell. Do you have his X-rays?
Have him do a nasal rinse
What I do for toncil stones is flush them out with a syringe my doctor gave me when I got my wisdom teeth removed it was a gamechanger. Also if he hasnt tried a tongue scraper I would try that aswell
In addition to all the above guesses he could have poor gut health.
Stop all smoking and drinking coffee
SIBO testing.
Besides the other suggestions, I assume that he uses a tongue scraper, right?
The tongue should always look rosy. Not whitish/yellowish.
Stop black tea
Check for tonsil stones, for sure. I get them and they’re foul AF. I’ve gotta stay on top of it the moment my breathe turns.
Lactobacillus salivarius will help maintain your oral bacterial flora. Chew two tabs twice daily
Define relatively healthy, as in, what does his diet consist of?
I dated a guy who smoked a lot of weed and had that “bad breath but from deep inside” issue. Hope you can get it resolved. Lots of good comments here, I would add tongue scraping a water pick.
GI issues like acid reflux can cause bad breath. Does he have heartburn or indigestion? Does he have smelly burps? If a dentist isn’t able to pin it down it could be tonsil crypts that catch bits of food or a more serious digestive issue.
I’ve heard people anecdotally mention that when they changed to eating the carnivore diet way, their bad breath (that people noticed) was not an issue anymore. Must have been ridding the fermentation of the vegetables in their guts, as well getting rid of ultra processed foods, seed oils etc…