Daughter have bad breath-HELP!

[Jo26]

My 5 year old daghter has bad breath and I have no idea what I can do about it. I have always encouraged her to clean her teeth and she does it every morning and evening. Its not only first thing in the morning, some days after school its awful. Does anyone know what I can do to prevent it?

My daughter sometimes gets bad breath if she gets infections could this be a possible cause.

if she doesn't have a virus currently, is she a mouth breather,and is she nasally congested or does she snore a lot ? perhaps she has large inflamed adenoidS? could always ask if GP would consider a referral to ENT if above scenario sounds familiar

Have her tummy checked out too. Both my Mum and I had terrible bad breath just before we had our appendix removed. That was told to us by my Mums neighbour who is a paramedic!

Oh and we don't have bad breath anymore

Yes, I have noticed it on my dd's when there is any cattarh or excess mucus around. Maybe reducing dairy would help, and/ or increasing her water intake.

At 5 she really still needs help to brush effectivley.

Also brush her tounge as bacteria build up there too.

If she is using a child's toothpaste you may find it's now better to give her one with a minty flavour. Boots do a great Applemint toothpaste for 6yrs, but she should be OK on it now, as long as you make sure she only has a small amount.

Sorry I'm back now. I actually give her adult toothpaste, only a small amount but I thought it may help. She doesn't particularly eat that much dairy although she does snor.

It's often a sign of a stomach problem.

My son snores. Hes 3 and is on the list to have his tonsils out. When his tonsils are inflamed his breath can be pretty horrid.

Would she use a non/low floride mouthwash?

Hi jo26 - I'd check how much your dd is drinking whilst at school as dehydration can cause bad breath, perhaps she needs to up her water intake?

Thank you all for your advise, it hasn't been a good week which is why I haven't had a chance to add a message for a while. Anyway, yes she does use a low floride toothpaste and I don't think she actually drinks alot of anything. Even the juice I put in her lunchbox is still full at the end of the day . I'll see how she gets on now she's started brushing her tongue. Thanks again

Check for mouth ulcers too. My dd had them when she was about 3 or 4 (turned out to be the first symptoms of cold sores ) but her breath stunk till I got her some antibiotics.