When the person you are talking to has bad breath...

Hey dolce, that is a very difficult thing to do. I should know! I've had that problem with my own breath! I have had some very serious teeth problems and bad gums and I had smoked. I knew that my teeth were badly decayed. I wasn't sure, but I kind of felt that I might have bad breath, which was made worse from smoking so I would chew gum. One day my boyfriend told me that he thought I had halitosis and I was shocked. Not only did I never expect him to know such a big word lol but I wanted to know how he knew about it and why did he think I had it. He told me he dated a girl who had it. Well, I told him I didn't have it, but I did have bad teeth and gums. Well, not anymore. Today I had the last 4 upper teeth extracted and my new fake teeth shoved in my mouth and right now I am in excrutiating pain! I had 8 stiches and the dentist shoved the dentures right in on top of the the gums and stiches! OMFG! I am sitting here mylotting and the pain is unreal! Almost time for another pain pill! So now I have the trauma of having "fake teeth". I am so not a person to have fake anything so this is really difficult for me! My boyfriend says they look great! I say they feel like shi! If I take them out with all the stiches and swelling I may not get them back in for awhile so wish me luck. Have to take them out tomorrow to rinse!

That was a lucky break you had, but it is not always possible to tell a person something like this. Only way to avoid themis to be on one side of a table while they stand on the other side. Bad breath is a real put off. I have faced this problem serveral times with soldiers. I used to ask thmtomet me inteh officve andalways onthe othr side of the table to keep them away.

When I am speaking with someone who has bad breath, I tend to back away from them a bit. I do not want to smell bad breath. If they step closer again, I tell them their breath smells bad.

Talking to a person with bad breath is really a problem... i usually just don't breath or turn my head sideways as if i was looking for something... but if the person is a really close friend of mine... i tell him/her immediately to chew gum... or eat mint candy... that usually helps for a while...

Hi friend! If the person with a bad breath is my friend then I would tell the truth about his/her halitosis. I wouldn't mind telling the truth cause I know its for his/her benefit.Besides, its better to come from me than from someone who she/he doesn't know well. My purpose is to help and not to mock. Ciao!

What you did was perfectly OK..But , in our daily routine, we can't keep giving these advices to everyone. I keep mouth freshener tablets.. with me...and while having a chat , i usually ,offer the person have one , while having one for myself..

Usually the person i speak to with bad breath is my husband. His breath is AWFUL!! Im pretty sure its not halitosis. Its mostly because he just doesnt brush his teeth. I usually just flat out tell him I dont want him near me until his breath is better. LOL Usually though if its a friend I will polity ask if they want a mint or something. If they dont then depending on the friend I ask them to please take one LOL. Usually they get the hint. If it is someone I dont really know that well i might just offer them a mint or gum in hopes that they will take one. If they dont I just try to stand away from them. LOL

Well I don't want to hurt the one who has bad breath, but just in case, i'd pack some breath fresheners with me just in case. If the situation's flipped around and I have bad breath, i'd chew some of that breath freshener gum to avoid any unpleasentries in face-to-face communication. It'd be awkward if we couldn't stand each other's breaths. Yeech!

dolce_vita78, You done the right thing, I once had one of my staff who had body odour and everyone used to complain to me about this person, so I had to tell him, he was so upset and walkout of his job, the his mother rang me to take him back, but I told her taht he will have to see to his hygene before he comes back but she told me he didn't like to was, can you believe that? he was a bit simple but I was willing to take him back, but he decline. Tamara

Thats nice of you to help her.You really deserve to be a teacher helping their students on their problem.Some people would take it as an insult or get offended when to be told what to do.I had encountered some people having this problem but sometimes i will not just breath talking to them so i couldn't smell it.Or sometimes i would not face talking to them.I couldn't tell them but i hope my gestures would help them realize what is wrong.

What I always do is stay a couple of distance with that person where I'm not able to smell his/her breath anymore. I just couldn't say it as it might offend him/her or something. But sometimes I just don't get it why they can't seem to notice that their breath stinks. Maybe it's the case where they get used to it and just doesn't notice it anymore. That's just sad.

When someone around me has bad breath the only thing I immediately do is turn away but do it as descreetly as possible so they don't take offence. Perhaps finish the conversation; bring it to an end so I can get away. I always get really paranoid about my breath myself and often wonder if people are turning their nose up as they talk to me. Because of this I always follow every meal or snack with a sugar free chewing gum. Not only does it keep my breath fresh but also helps protect teeth so that's got to be a bonus. Remember last Saturday I went for an italian meal with one of my girl mates before we headed off to town clubbing. While we were in restaurant my mate fancied a side order of garlic bread. I immediately declined...after all no guys going to want to talk or dance with you in a club with your mouth smelling of garlic...not a good look.

Honestly, I have encountered about it too. I really don't want to offend the person so all I want to do is just hold my breath and pretend I didn't smell it. I know some other day, someone will tell him about it but I don't want the words to come from me. I don't want him to be embarass. I hate to see people who got embarassed actually.

Try adding a big bowl of tasty looking mints, somewhere in open reach. that way they cannot help but to have one :)

[i]Hi dolce, It is really hard to tell the person with bad breath but when close friend, I can easily tell them and comfortable about it and I know that telling them will help them become aware since I have noticed that there are people who are are not aware of their bad breath and if someone will be brave enough to let this person realize, we actually saving him or her from any embarrassing situation with other people![/i]

oh.. i dont know how to confront that person if i were in your shoes.. when i talk to somebody who has a bad breath, i have the tendency to move my face away from from that person.. i wouldnt talk with my face very close to that person.. i know it's insulting a bit.. but i cant really stand bad breaths..

IT common some time but if i breath smell like that i will go back from his month and if i have that problem i will avoid my self from then because i don't like to make then sad so i will avoid my self. i will take some month fresh and i will come to talk with them.

Hi friend,Its indeed an embarrasing situation,when we tell the person it would definetly hurt them .So I would turn my face the other side or stand a little faraway from the person.I have met this situation many times but I wouldn't know how to handle the situation.Bad breath is because of some stomach issues or digestion problems,When the digestion is not proper or when we have constipation problems we get bad breath.The person who are suffering from bad breath will not know his problem,that is the disadvantage here.Only when others tell the person he would be aware of his own problem.thanks for sharing.happy mylotting.

i tend to back away a bit.. in a way that he/she wouldn't notice that something's wrong with him/her.. i don't want to offend him/her in anyway.. it's pretty tough to admit to a person that he/she has bad breath or halitosis most especially if that person isn't close to you..

OMG I sometimes help up in the shop if its crowdy and some customers have really bad brath :/ I step away, but sometimes it doesnt help. And since Im a really silly person lol I start thinking that this air was in that person mouth and it stinks and now Im breathing it and it makes me sick hehehehe. I cant wait for them to leave :))))