How long does bad breath last in babies?
The duration depends entirely on the cause. If your mouth smells of food or drink, you can quickly neutralize the smell by brushing your teeth. However, if the cause is teething, it may take longer for the child to smell “normal” again.
In addition, the speed at which teeth break through varies from child to child. There is also no indication of how long such a breakthrough takes. If the smell comes in the course of a sore throat or tonsils, it should disappear again with the inflammation. If the odour still remains, even if the cause has supposedly been combated, one must think about another reason and have it confirmed by a doctor. In this way a more serious disease can be detected and contained.
Bad breath when teething
Not every baby needs to smell from the mouth when teething. Nevertheless, it is true that the production of saliva is stimulated when a tooth breaks through. Because more saliva can also absorb more bacteria, the saliva can smell unpleasant, because it absorbs all bacteria from the mouth.
Bacteria feel particularly comfortable in a warm and moist mouth and multiply rapidly. The degradation and metabolic products of the bacteria cause the bad smell. Teething is not a dangerous inflammation, but the mucous membrane of the mouth reacts irritated when a tooth is pierced from below.
Acidic bad breath in babies
Babies in particular vomit more often after eating or drinking milk. Some stomach acid always returns through the esophagus into the mouth. The distance between the stomach and the mouth is very short in small children.
If the muscle at the entrance to the stomach is not yet as strong, there is increased backflow through the oesophagus. When lactose is broken down, a sour smelling lactic acid is produced. This means that when you “burp” the milk that has already been burped, it also comes back up.
In the case of inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth or throat, or even tonsillitis, a rotten, acrid waste product of dead defense cells is produced, which can also lead to an acidic smell. Saliva can also smell acidic if its pH value is too low. This is especially the case if one has drunk too little or eaten too many sweets.
