If you are reaching menopause or already there, then you know that your body goes through many different changes during this time because of the change in levels of hormones that you are producing.

One common complaint of many menopausal women is that they suddenly have quite bad breath and a dry mouth. In fact over 30-50% of women over fifty five all say that having a dry mouth is a daily occurrence.

The reason for this is because you are now producing less saliva and saliva is important for getting rid of excess bacteria, washing away left over food, combating viruses and more. So once your saliva starts to dry up, so will your mouth’s ability to keep bacteria levels in check.

It is these bacteria that are the cause of the odor in your mouth as they release a methane type gas which is very smelly.

Of course there are many other reasons that you might have bad breathe in menopause, including gum disease or intestinal problems, but if you have ruled out any health issues then a lack of saliva is usually the problem.

So how do you get rid of the bacteria and get back more saliva?

Obviously keeping up your oral hygiene is very important to keep the bacteria levels in your mouth in check, and also increasing your water intake so that your body has enough supply to make more saliva.

Chewing gum has also been known to stimulate the salivary glands to make more saliva, but choose only sugar free gum to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Or you can even go to your dentist and ask for an artificial saliva supplement that you can use. This option is the best for quickly restoring your salivary glands to peak performance but can be expensive since it stops working as soon as you stop taking it.