Eating more fruit and vegetables may decrease bad breath. Fruit and veg contain a lot of water which can help keep your mouth moist. Saliva is nature's way of keeping your breath fresh.

If you’re concerned about bad breath – for example, if people have mentioned it to you – perhaps it’s time for a trip to your dentist

After being digested, a smelly substance in garlic is absorbed into your bloodstream and then transferred to your lungs, where it is expelled as a gas making your breath smell! Brushing your teeth and rinsing with mouthwash only temporarily hide the odour.

There’s some evidence that the polyphenols in green tea may protect drinkers against cavities and bad breath.

The NHS recommends using 12 to 18 inches (30-45 cm) of floss grasped so that there are a couple of inches of floss taut between the hands.

Children are not more likely to have bad breath if their mothers had bad breath, according to a US study. On the other hand, there was a clear connection between frequent tooth-brushing and reduced breath levels of smelly gases called volatile sulphur compounds.

Bad breath can be a symptom of a medical condition, including a respiratory infection, diabetes, or liver or kidney disease. If your dentist looks at your mouth and your bad breath isn’t coming from a problem with your teeth or gums, you might have to see your GP about one of these or some other medical condition.

Eating red meat can worsen your breath; eating less meat may improve your breath. The decay of the leftover bits of proteins in meats and cheese can create odours in your breath.

A cavity can develop in even the smallest and newest teeth. Infant gums can be cleaned with a soft cloth. When the first teeth appear, clean them with an infant toothbrush and children’s toothpaste.

Normally, saliva washes particles of food out of your mouth, so people with dry mouth may have bad breath because they still have food particles stuck in there. The medical name for dry mouth is xerostomia.

A number of prescription medicines and some over-the-counter medications cause dry mouth. They include nitrates, some chemotherapy drugs and some tranquillisers. The lower amount of saliva contributes to an overgrowth of bacteria which can produce an unpleasant breath smell.

Bad breath, a sore throat, trouble swallowing and fever are all symptoms of tonsillitis, an infection of the tonsils. Tonsils are the oval-shaped nubs of pink tissue on each side of the back of your throat.

Debris caught in your tonsils also can be a factor in bad breath, as well as those smelly grey or yellowish deposits, called tonsilloliths or tonsil stones. Gargling may help ease the problem.

Rinsing after flossing helps remove the debris loosened by the floss.

Dentures that are not cleaned properly can harbour bacteria and food particles, which cause bad breath. Removable dentures should be brushed and soaked in a disinfecting solution overnight.

Symptoms of gum disease, also called periodontal disease, include bleeding gums, constant bad breath and gums that are pulling away from your teeth.

Maybe garlic bread is your problem, or that expensive cheese you like - in any case, a log of what you eat can help your dentist work out what's triggering your bad breath.

It may sound strange, but one of the fresh breath tips from the NHS is to use a special soft rubber wiper called a tongue scraper to remove bacteria at the back of the tongue, which brushing can miss.

The scientific name for gums is gingiva - that’s why the name for early stage gum disease is gingivitis. One of the symptoms of gingivitis is bad breath. At this stage, it’s easy to fix this condition with cleaning by your hygienist and better daily dental care at home.