Morning Breath: Why you may have bad breath when you wake up.
Overnight, you have reduced saliva flow in your mouth. This allows bacteria to multiply faster and food residue to stagnate and not get washed away. Increased microbial activity due to the decrease in saliva action overnight results in greater release of volatile sulfur compounds causing bad breath.
If you don’t brush your teeth before going to bed and remove food residue between the teeth with water pick or floss, you are leaving a nutrient source in your mouth that bacteria will metabolize, and this can cause more bad breath the next morning.
Overnight, you are also fasting, which results in an increase in acetone and ammonia and isoprene in your breath when you wake up, until you have your first meal.
Overnight, gases are also building up in your intestines due to being immobilized and through the action of bacterial fermentation. These gases are released through your mouth when you wake up and get up.
Morning breath usually goes away after you wake up, when your saliva starts flowing normally and washes away bacteria and food residue from your mouth.
The first meal you have also alleviates morning breath by getting your body out of overnight fasting mode and this result less acetone in your breath.
So for most people morning breath goes away shortly after waking due to increased salivation, getting out of fasting mode, and brushing their teeth.
From the desk of Bassel Paul Gebrael DDS, Dip. Perio, FRCD(C), FICD
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