So you have bad breath. Here’s what to do about your hellish halitosis

Bad breath is the ultimate mood killer. It can ruin a first date in less than a second, but it can plague sufferers for years.

When someone says to you, ‘Got a mint?’, it can mean one of two things. One: perhaps they just fancy a mint, or two (and far more likely): they think you need one yourself because of your stinky breath.

We all suffer a bit of bad breath – or halitosis – from time to time. The Bad Breath Institute (yes, it exists) in the US says that 99 per cent of us suffer from the condition when we wake up. This is because, during the night, we don’t produce the necessary saliva to wash away the bad bacteria that causes bad breath.