His breath is starting to offend me

[namechangecharlie]

As harsh as this sounds, my boyfriend of 3 years breath is starting to become a real issue to me. Before this year, he was mostly fine, and let me add that he has no other hygeine issues - he spends a fortune on expensive aftershave, always smells gorgeous and I’m constantly on about how clean and fresh he is! However the breath has become really bad this past 6-12 months. Even after brushing his teeth, I can kind of smell something off. Sometimes I cringe when he’s in front of people I know in case they smell it.

Now and then I do ask if he’s brushed, or make an effort to be like “I’m going to brush my teeth now”, I constantly chew gum in hopes that he’ll ask for some! But I don’t think he realises there’s anything wrong. I’m surprised his mum or friends haven’t said anything.

Occasional bad breath I can deal with but this is a daily occurance now and it’s affecting my sexual attraction to him. How do I bring this up sensitively, or do you think there could be a dental or tonsil issue that he’s not noticed or something?! Helppppp!!

Just tell him I told mine turned out he has tonsil stones - tonsillectomy later all ok

Would highly recommend Peroxyl mouthwash and gengigel gel. Worked on my OH.

Thanks all! @gamerchick I believe he has ‘regular’ checkups, but not so far in 2019. There could well be something waiting to be discovered...

I’ve offered to sign up to his dentist as I moved closer to his area fairly recently and haven’t signed up to one yet. I’m hoping when I make my first appointment he’ll come as well as mine will be relatively soon!

Its the stuff between the teeth. My dentist told me that that is 40% of the surface area.

If you aren't flossing, brushing only deals with just over half of the problem and trapped food and plaque festers.

Floss first then brush (including your tongue), hold the foam in your mouth for at least a minute, then spit. Don't rinse.

That is what he told me!

Get him to a dentist, he may need a good professional cleaning and a. Heck for gum disease. My dentist told me that gum disease has a very characteristic smell which she can always recognise. The earlier it’s dealt with the better, if that’s what he has - and if not, then you can rule it out and look for another cause.

Please don’t take this as scaremongering, because I try not to do that, but! DH developed really bad, sulphurous bad breath, which he couldn’t get rid of, turns out it was bowel related & he had to have his large colon removed - if the dentist can’t find a cause, please send him to your GP!

It could be an medical issue. I find it strange you can't talk to your partner about this or offer him gum? :/

I tell me boyfriend if his breath smells and give him gum. It's not a big deal.

I've had this with DH over the last 2 years. His breath has been awful, even though he sees the dentist and hygienist regularly. I felt awful saying it but I couldn't bear it if he turned towards me in bed and was breathing through his mouth.

Then his front tooth cracked in half two months ago, and the dentist did an xray. It showed a massive infection in his gum that's actually destroyed some of the bone and he now needs surgery to correct it all. I'm very sensitive to smell anyway but I still can't believe the Dentist didn't notice.