How do you tell someone that her breath stinks without offending her?

Hi. candyfairy. In situations like this, you have to play it very smartly. Open up a piece if gum that has a strong minty flavor. Or you can buy some Breathsavers. Get the pack out and eat one and ask her if she wanted a piece of candy or gum. If she accepts it, then this may cure her bad breath odor. I think that it is very immature to call others names. These adults should act mature and not immature. It is always a better way to deal with issues like this than to make fun of someone. These people on the job should at least know that.

Just say it and get over it. If you want to try and be polite about it, pretend you are worried that YOUR OWN breath smells bad. Ask her if your breath is bad? That will get the ball rolling in the right neighbourhood. Garlic is the most common cause, and it is VERY good for you, so who cares anyway. I just tell people, I'm a straight up kinda person.

Hi candyfairy21. First of all I don't see a way out of this. In the sense, if you don't tell her you have to suffer the consequences of smelling her breath like a sewer. If you tell her she might get offended. What about giving hints that you have changed your toothpaste because of bad breath? If she does not take the hint just talk to her alone and say it plainly that her breath stinks. I am sure she would appeciate your comment, better than talking behind her back.

thanks for this very insightful discussion. ive been reading it all in hopes of finding an answer for my friend who is about to marry a man thats great in every way BUT has body oder, even a few minutes after his shower ive been reading responses on different discussions about how to let someone know about such a thing without hurting their feelings. im starting to think there is just no answer but telling them and let the chips fall where they may

candy, you have to tell her upfront. Suggest going to the dentist for semi-annual cleansing. Tell her a change of toothbrush is a must every two weeks. Flossing and antibacterial mouth rinsing is necessary after every meal. Tell her to refrain from eating spicy foods, too.

Hi Candyfairy I can relate to what your topic is about I have a coworker who has really bad breath too sometimes I just hold my breath or take a couple steps back when he talks to me there have been several other people I have met who have bad breath and I do the same thing I don't want to hurt their feelings so I just compromise by doing what I said I do . We had this one coworker who happend to be manager and his breath was really rancid I mean he open his mouth to talk to me and I was like Oh my gosh!!Mouthwash, wasn't going to work on this one , not a breath mint , flossing ,brushing nothing he just needed to have his insides checked I think it was coming from inside his body a trip to the dentist would have surely helped but I don't think that was in the cards its not like he didn't know people felt that way someone left him a whole box of Tic Tacs on his desk , Anyway one day I was talking to him and it was just overwhelming and he just happened to notice my facial expression which I didn't realize I was making anyway he said to me "Whats the matter does my breath stink?" ) Before I could think I said HELL YES !!

i think you just got to be honest. i don't think you should come out and say your breath smells like the sewer. thats too offensive but if my breath did stink i would certainly like to know so i could use mouthwash before hand. someone told me i needed to do something about making my breath smell better in the morning when i got up and it didn't offend me. i was glad the person told me so i could correct the problem. now i use mouthwash when i get up every morning.

When I notice a stinking mouth I just remind her how good a particular mouth freshener is to use and how best it is working for me.The product I refer is Glister, mouth freshener.

Well, being honest is the key. Saying her breath smells like the sewer is too offensive, but you could just say her breath doesn't smell good. If she gets offended, it's not your fault.

bring some high strength breathe mints to work. Eat some, and offer some to her. "Mmmm these are so good, you have to try these!"

I don't know if there is a nice way to go about this with the woman that you are talking about. If it was me that had to talk to her, I think when I was having a conversation with her I would maintain a bit more distance between myself and her when we were having a conversation. Unless her breath is REALLY bad, having more space between the two of you will make it to where you can have a conversation with her without offending your sense of smell.

Hello candyfairy... Your friend has halitosis... And she will continue to suffer if you are not going to do anything. Approach her in a time where you two alone and tell her honestly... You might gonna hurt her feelings but who knows? She might be thankful to you if time comes she realizes her situation...

Whoah! that was kind of tough situation for you. I had classmate and some workmates who also has stinky breath. I don't how to tell them so what I usually did was to not breath when their mouth is near my nose or I'll make sure that my nose is not near their mouth. There is no easy way to tell them cause whether you like it or not you will hurt them. They should know that cause they will definitely smell there breath everytime they talk or they just don't care at all. I sometimes do have stinky breath, what I did was to chew a menthol gum or candy to freshen my breath or eat something. If you happen to have a candy on your pocket or bag, try to give them some so their breath freshen or make an action that you are checking your breath so they will did the same way to them selves.

First, I guess you have to tell her about that. Talk to her in unoffensive manner, or yes, she might be offended, do it in a careful manner. Or, you can leave a dental floss and/or a mouthwash in her desk, you have to do it, of course, secretly. Either of the two would work, I'm sure. I also encountered the same problem two years ago. What I did was I left him dental floss in his table. Lastly, I also hate people who are backfighters! And I admire you for not going with them.

You can offer her a breath mint. That might help. Also it might be that she does not use the right toothpaste or use it correctly. You could lie and say that before you (did what you do now) you had a problem with your breath and make her believe that her's is not as bad, but you do not want her to be embarrassed as you were. It is rather hard to do. I find that i cannot tell anyone if their breath stinks and neither could someone tell me, because they did not tell me the solution. (brushing the tongue helps as well as using dental floss.

Normally for such occasion, we use the trick of offering them a sweet. So always carry candies around you. When you meet such a person, open up a candy and eat it yourself, then offer another to that person. If that person refuses, insists on it by saying it is e.g. a very nice sweet, blah blah, you will love it for sure... just try it. This way, the sweet's smell will mask that person's breath without making the situation tense. You will not risk insulting or making that person unhappy and you both and continue the conversation "fresh". Cheers!

you really have to tell her if you really wanted to help her. because people who have foul odor (breath, feet, body) don't really realized they stink. why don't you invite her to a dentist with halimeter test? say for instance, you wanted to make sure about something (i.e. your breath) or you wanted to test this new technology of testing whether you have bad breath or not. or bring along another close friend and ask her to play a role of consulting a dentist for that reason if you feel that it would be very obvious if it would be you who's going to pretend. just make up stories if you don't want to be too straightforward. talking about the extent of what you can do for a friend or as a concerned individual. heheheh... you can do it.^_~

That can indeed be a problem. It is hard to tell anyone that her breath stinks because this will surely hurt her feelings. Why don't you try leaving a secret note on her desk telling her this in the nicest way possible. I hope this will improve things.

you have two option... to tell her honestly regarding the matter straight to the point or letting her understand slowly what you really mean. Just like telling her 'bout the johari's window that there is a part wherein a person doesn't know something bout herself while the other people knows it and site examples like halitosis or a breath that stinks. On that case you let her tell bout yourself if she noticed that smells not good on you and then you on her part. It's like letting both of you have the awareness of the self and on that part your friend could notice it without you offending her.