Are you kiss-ready?

DR. SAHIRA SANDHU

It’s February and love is in the air! If you have a sweetheart, chances are pretty good that you might be sharing a kiss or two on Valentine’s Day. Practicing good oral hygiene and showing your teeth a little extra love will make every kiss sweeter.

Following these tips can help you fight bad breath as well as keep your mouth healthy.

Limit your alcohol and nicotine intake There are more than a few good reasons to limit how much booze you drink on date. For one, you don’t want to drink too much and become a bad date. Second, smoking and drinking too much can also make your breath smell really bad, which might make your date feel a bit uncomfortable.

Avoid food that causes bad breath Certain types of food are notorious for causing bad breath, such as onions and garlic. Food that is acidic can cause bad breath as well. Try avoiding things like tomatoes, grapefruit, pineapple and oranges.

Choose the right chocolate When it comes to sweets, not all treats are the same. First, choose solid chocolate over anything with a chewy or sugary centre. And believe it or not, dark chocolate is a better option than milk chocolate when it comes to your teeth, as dark chocolate contains less sugar.

Drinking water is sexy Not only does staying hydrated gives your skin a healthy glow, it’s also key to keeping your mouth kissable. Drinking water helps to promote healthy production of oxygen which deters the growth of smelly bacteria.

Avoid coffee Like alcohol, coffee dries out your mouth. Even worse, the coffee taste lingers in there and fuels the odour. On your coffee date, opt for a green or iced tea instead.

Scrape your tongue To remove any residue that may be building up on the tongue, invest in an inexpensive tool called a tongue scraper, which is readily available in drugstores. If you don’t have a tongue scraper, you can use your toothbrush to brush your tongue.

Use an antibacterial mouthwash An anti-bacterial mouthwash will kill the bacteria that brushing won’t and it will keep your mouth fresh for a long time.

Eat raw fruit & vegetables When you feel you need a snack, eat raw vegetables or some fruit and that will satisfy your hunger and help freshen up your breath too. Fresh fruit and vegetables will also keep your digestive system in good working order and that will help keep your breath fresh as well.

Eat your parsley garnish That little bit of parsley that you leave on the side of your plate could save you an embarrassing bad breath moment too. Parsley contains a substance called chlorophyll, which is a natural deodoriser, so chewing in your parsley garnish at the end of a meal will help to remove the smell of the food.

Chew sugar-free gum The best emergency treatment for bad breath, when you think a kiss might be in the way, is to chew on some sugar-free gum. It’s not just the mint flavour that will freshen up your breath, chewing gum will also stimulate the production of saliva and that will flush away the bacteria.

Power of toothpick Toothpicks are your friend, and they can help you out in a pinch. If you’re out for dinner in a restaurant, always make sure to take at least five minutes at the end of the meal to grab a toothpick from the bar and go check on your teeth.

Avoid dairy products Greek yogurt and other high-protein dairy products create a build-up of proteins during digestion, which results in bad breath.

No meat An overload on protein breaks down into carbohydrates for fuel. One of the byproducts is ammonia, which can cause a smelly situation in your mouth.

Hot sauce, peppers, and all things spicy These ingredients leave a film of spice on the tongue that releases when you exhale. Lay off the salsa if you know you are going to get lucky.

Nothing at all We don’t want you to eat nothing, though! Skipping a meal before a kiss can be even worse. Ketoacidosis is the breakdown in body chemicals when you kip a meal causing smelly breath.

(Dr Sandhu is a Chandigarh-based

prosthodontics)