His breath smells after cleaning teeth

[Holidayoverdue]

This is a bit of awkward one…
my DP, been together 10 years, last couple of months I’ve noticed his breath smells after cleaning his teeth for bed.

Having a child this is usually our time but I’m struggling.

Ive checked and he is indeed cleaning his teeth
can't mention it as wouldn’t want to make him paranoid and upset

has been to dentist within this time- perfect teeth
doesnt drink coffee before bed

I’m thinking I’ll buy a new toothbrush? He currently uses a manual.

any ideas welcome… I have mentioned it one night but it just seemed rude and he didn’t pick up on the hint.

any ideas would be more than welcome trying to handle tactfully but equally it’s horrible and its starting to really ruin our sex life…

Buy a new strong mouthwash and leave it out in the bathroom. My DH would start using it.

Could be stomach issues rather than dental.

Tonsil stones smell vile and are pretty common. Did he have a virus or sore throat coinciding with this smell? He could clean his teeth a hundred times and his breath would still smell bad if he has them.
He needs to manually remove them with a q tip, a water pic or a clean finger.
Some people are prone to them. Others get them when they have a throat infection or virus. Antibiotics get rid of them in this situation but with a long term issue the only potential solution is removal of the tonsils. There is a small chance they can still come back even after a tonsillectomy.
Given its a recent issue its likely tonsil stones from a virus/sore throat or perhaps maybe lack of flossing. The trapped food in between his teeth will stink as its rotten. Do you know if he flosses?

Thank you. I’ll deffo be buying a new one tomorrow and cleaning the bathroom so it’s basically the only thing on display- fingers crossed.

Tung brush and gel for cleaning his tongue
also agree tonsil stones

Ohh this is interesting I have no idea what tonsil stones are but will look into that.

Im pretty sure he doesn’t floss, he has perfect teeth. I floss and have bad teeth so feels a bit daft when I try telling him what to do teeth wise.

Book both of you in for hygienist visit. If there is anything wrong with his teeth then she should spot it then. A mouthwash will only mask symptoms and it's important any problems are sorted out. In the meantime get both of you electric toothbrushes.

Does he take medication? When I was on anti depressants people used to step back because my breath was so bad. I cleaned my teeth, flossed, used gum, drank lots of water but there was just a stale bitter smell to my breath. I felt so self conscious about it.

I have great teeth - no fillings or any dental work feels pretty good at 52 - but do have some tiny gaps between my teeth and floss every night. The rare occasion I miss it and a bit of food is dislodged it stinks to high heaven even after just 1 day. Floss, brush with an electric toothbrush and a proper rinse with a mouth wash if you’re sure it’s not tonsil stones.

Is he drinking enough water? Is he constipated?

Just thinking a few weeks ago this heat started so could be dehydration. Constipation can also cause bad breath.

Does he use Tepe brushes between his teeth?
What could be happening is by brushing, he's disturbing what should be cleaned out, hence the smell.
I've noticed the same when people come back from a dental appointment.

I think it must be down to flossing either not doing it, or I know he has ordered some picks so perhaps he has started and it’s dislodging things…

I’ll get an electric tooth brush ordered and have a flossing discussion hopefully that should do the trick. Thanks everyone I’m surprised how something so small really has been so off putting

I bought some ultradex mouthwash for this, it was brilliant!

Mouthwash will make the problem worse, it ruins the bacterial biome in the mouth

Perfect teeth doesn't equal perfect gums, if he doesn't floss he probably has gum or periodontal disease which causes chronic bad breath. Dentists are pretty good at missing the early signs, has he seen a dental hygienist recently?

Could also be tonsil stones as mentioned previously but my money is on gum health.

Flossing- I’ve only started flossing daily in the last few years and it’s really made a huge improvement to my bad breath

Could be a sinus infection? My dad is prone to these and it always starts off smelling like terrible breath - we tell him and he gets antibiotics and that sorts it out - just another possibility?

I second tonsil stones. They truly are vile. I suffer awful with them and my breath when they’re building up is absolutely atrocious. Sometimes I can’t find them but know they are in there because of the smell. Really embarrassing and I have talking to people face to face out of pure fear.