Treating periodontal disease not only makes for a healthier mouth, but also freshens breath.  Researchers treated 102 people with gum disease.  Everyone in the study done also had bad breath.  Dentists used a device that measured their levels of three chemicals that commonly cause bad breath.

In the Study some people were randomly assigned to get periodontal treatment first, followed by tongue cleaning. The rest of the people got tongue cleaning first, and then periodontal treatment. Everyone’s breath was tested twice. This was done after the first type of treatment and again after the second. Tests showed that both types of treatment helped bad breath.

For patients with periodontal disease, periodontal treatment improved people’s breath more than tongue cleaning did. This study appears in the July 18th issue of the Journal of Periodontal Research.