One day in high school, one of my classmates told me I had bad breath. I think out of embarrassment, I tried to deny it, then she challenged me to exhale in front of her to prove her point. From then on, I have been super conscious of my breath. My confidence has gone down significantly. I have been sucking on candy or chewing on gum to mask my bad breath ever since.
In university, my very close friend would always check her breath and ask if she had bad breath, which she didn’t. That’s probably her way of gently telling me that my breath stinks.
On many occasions, I have been offered mint, candies and chewing gums. I accepted them and said thank you, trying my very best to avoid crying because of the extreme embarrassment.
I have read somewhere that people who have bad breath are actually ironically overzealous at cleaning their teeth. It is definitely true for myself. Over the years, I have tried so many products available in the market. I would start believing that I finally got rid of my bad breath only to be disappointed by the look on people’s faces when I speak close to them and they start covering their noses or their mouths.
I work as a healthcare professional, and I suffer everyday, knowing what people are thinking while they are talking to me. I am in the healthcare field, if anything, I should be able to cure myself before I even try to help other people.
I stumbled upon Dr Phillips’ youtube channel back in February. She explained very well how each of the products she is recommending work. And she came across as a very sincere person to me. I bought the products and for 5 months now, I have been very happy with the results.
Here is the link to her Youtube channel where she discusses the products to use:
All throughout the day, I would be sucking on 2 xylitol lozenges up to 10 x a day. I then avoid drinking or eating for an hour. As per Dr Phillips, this time is needed to allow the saliva to work to keep the teeth healthy.
Start slow on any xylitol product. When I first learned about all it’s benefits, I used a lot. That was a big mistake. I remember, I was at work and I almost didn’t make it to the washroom. I had severe stomach cramping and explosive diarrhea. Lol. From then on, I re-introduced xylitol slower into my daily routine.
I hope this post is read by everyone who needs help clearing bad breath. I know the pain that you are feeling right now.
Another product that I have found improved my breath is when I drink clove tea. I steep a tablespoon of whole cloves in hot water and I drink it first thing in the morning, roughly about 30 minutes before I use Dr Phillips’s recommended products. She didn’t recommend cloves but I was surprised how on days that I drink clove tea, my breath is more consistently fresh. When I looked it up, cloves have actually been used to freshen breath.
I started using clove tea from the recommendation of Dr David Williams from his book Super Gut. It is suppose to help coat the inside of the gut to avoid bad bacteria from entering into the blood stream. It did coat my stomach because I am now able to stop taking an acid-reducer medication and I am now able to enjoy drinking tea and coffee with no stomach pains!
So how do I know that my breath has improved? People no longer cover their mouths and noses when they are talking to me. People who have suffered from bad breath know too well how we avoid being too close to anyone. We try our best to keep a distance from people, enough to hopefully avoid the other person from smelling our breath.
Aside from people’s reactions, I also have been using Tanita breath checker, it is a portable device to check exhaled air objectively. When it reads 0-2, your breath is ok, if it shows 3-5, your breath smells bad. Since I have been using cloves and Dr Phillip’s recommended products, I have been getting 0-2 readings!
How I Finally Found Relief from Bad Breath 😮💨(ChatGPT version)
I’ve struggled with bad breath since high school.
One day, a classmate told me directly that my breath smelled bad. Out of embarrassment, I denied it — but she challenged me to breathe toward her to prove it. From that moment on, I became very self-conscious. My confidence dropped.
Since then, I’ve always chewed gum or sucked on candies to try and mask it.
In university, a close friend would often ask me if she had bad breath — even though she didn’t. I realized later that it was her gentle way of telling me that I did.
Over the years, many people have offered me mints or gum. I’d smile and say thank you, while trying not to cry inside.
Ironically, I’ve always been very thorough with my oral care — brushing, flossing, and rinsing more than most people. I’ve tried almost every product on the market. Sometimes I’d think the problem was gone… until I saw someone’s reaction — when they quietly covered their nose or stepped back as I talked.
As a healthcare professional, that made it even harder. I help people with their health, yet I couldn’t fix my own breath.
Then, earlier this year, I found Dr. Ellie Phillips on YouTube. She explained, in a very clear and sincere way, how her Complete Mouth Care System works. Something about her tone made me trust her, so I decided to give it a try.
I bought all the products she recommended — and I’ve been using them for five months now. I can honestly say my breath has never been this fresh for this long!
Here’s what I do:
- I use all of Dr. Ellie’s recommended mouth care products.
- I suck on two xylitol lozenges for up to 10x a day
- I try not to drink or eat anything within an hour of the xylitol
⚠️ Tip: Start slow with xylitol. When I first learned about its benefits, I overdid it — and ended up with major stomach cramps and a dash to the washroom! 😅 Lesson learned. Reintroduce it slowly.
Another thing that helped is drinking clove tea.
Every morning, I steep 1 tablespoon of whole cloves in hot water and drink it about 30 minutes before using Dr. Ellie’s products. She doesn’t mention cloves, but I noticed that on the days I drink it, my breath stays fresher for longer.
Later, I learned from Dr. David Williams’ book Super Gut that clove tea helps protect the gut lining and reduce bad bacteria. It even helped my stomach — I no longer need to take acid reducers, and I can drink coffee and tea again without pain! ☕️
So how do I know my breath has really improved?
✅ People no longer cover their mouths or step back when talking to me.
✅ I feel more relaxed around people again.
✅ My Tanita breath checker (a small device that measures breath odor) now consistently reads 0–2 — which means fresh breath!
After so many years of embarrassment and pain, I finally feel confident again.
If you’re struggling with bad breath, I understand exactly how you feel. Please don’t give up — there is hope and healing. ❤️
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