Breath

Dry mouth, morning breath, and what to do when brushing isn’t the answer.

Dry mouth

Medication, sleep, and the reason water doesn’t fix it.

Editorial illustration: roll of medical tape close up

The Problem Might Be Airflow, Not Saliva

For the people it works for it works well, and the reason is airflow rather than saliva. It also fails in a specific way, and there is one thing to check first.

Editorial illustration: spray bottle close up minimal still life

Four Named Products and What Each Is For

Biotene is a rinse, XyliMelts are discs, gels and sprays are something else again. Three mechanisms for dry mouth, and one of them cannot be bought in Europe.

Editorial illustration: An ancient cracked ceramic drinking cup with dried salt crust, lit like a relic on black slate

What Still Works at 3am

Saliva stops overnight and doesn't come back until morning. We tried five products aimed at that window and judged them on the same two questions.

Editorial illustration: Split prescription tablet on a cracked porcelain saucer, its powder spilling like enamel dust un

"My Teeth Started Rapidly Detonating"

Teeth that were fine for thirty years don't start failing by coincidence. For a lot of people the cause is sitting in the pill organizer, and nobody mentioned it.

Bad breath

When you’ve tried everything and it’s still there.

Editorial illustration: glass of water bedside table morning

The Tap Turns Off and Nothing Else Does

Morning breath is saliva stopping for eight hours while the bacteria carry on. The useful question is not what you brush with, but whether your nose was blocked.

Editorial illustration: medical gauze roll close up

The Smell Is Made on the Tongue

Most bad breath is made on the back of the tongue, not between the teeth. The people who solved it disagree sharply about the tool, and one of them uses gauze.

Editorial illustration: Macro of a pitted limestone sponge, its cavities packed with dark mineral grit, lit like an anat

What Tonsil Stones Actually Are

The pockets in your tonsils have a real anatomical name, and it's crypts. Things collect in them, harden, and produce a smell nothing in your mouth explains.

Editorial illustration: Split garlic clove under harsh macro light, its papery skin cracked to reveal glossy sulfur crys

Your Breath Is Made of Rotten Eggs, Cabbage and Roadkill

Three specific molecules cause almost all of it. One is rotten eggs, one is boiled cabbage, one is roadkill. Here's what's actually happening in there.