# 3 year old and bad breath!



## queen b (Jun 8, 2007)

has anyone experienced this? dd used to have the loveliest smelling breath and for the past few months it's been really smelly. we brush twice a day using tom's of maine strawberry toothpaste. is this normal? i am scared she is having early onset of halitosis. anyone else experience this?

tia!


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Has she had allergy issues latly? Or digestive issues?

Sore throats, and upset stomachs can cause bad breath.


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## new2texas (Apr 20, 2009)

How has her health been otherwise? Whenever my daughter has a cold her breath gets nasty. My daughter is also prone to throat infections and we can usually tell she has some sort of infection going on when her breath gets bad even when the other symptoms aren't there yet. Once the infection is gone her breath is sweet again. I think it is unusual for kids to have bad breath otherwise.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

My 2 yo had this several months ago and I couldn't figure it out, but her nose was running and she had a rash between the nose and her lip. Hubby finally looked up the nose and found she had stuffed a piece of foam up there and that was what was holding the smell. After we removed it everything cleared up right away.


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
My 2 yo had this several months ago and I couldn't figure it out, but her nose was running and she had a rash between the nose and her lip. Hubby finally looked up the nose and found she had stuffed a piece of foam up there and that was what was holding the smell. After we removed it everything cleared up right away.

The exact same thing (it was even a piece of foam!) happened when my oldest was 3-4.









Also, my 3 yr. old has some seriously stinky morning breath, which I think is normal, but not after brushing. That would lead me to think there's something else going on if brushing doesn't get rid of it.


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## ChinaDoll (Jul 27, 2003)

or dental cavities; has she been in for a dental cleaning yet? (says the mother whose DD had her first cavity filled at 21 months







)


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## sahmmie (Jan 13, 2008)

When my kids have bad breaath it's usually one of the following things that's causing it; a cold or sinus infection, mild dehydration (outside all day and not drinking enough), or not brushing often or well enough.

I used to use Tom's toothpastes because I love that they are all natural, but my oldest ds's teeth were getting icky despite me brushing them thorougly three times a day. I recently switched to a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide toothpaste and her teeth are much cleaner and her breath much fresher. I'm not saying Tom's is the problem, but it might be worth trying another toothpaste if you can't find another culprit for the bad breath.


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## SAHDS (Mar 28, 2008)

DD's bad breath started at around 4 and got worse quickly. It was so bad I couldn't even have her speak straight to my face. DS's started a bit around 7. When DS was 8, I was looking at his uvula (as a joke) and noticed something white stuck to the top/side of his mouth. After googling, I found out it was a tonsillolith (tonsil stones). They are 'balls' of dead white blood cells and bacteria that get trapped inside the tonsil crypts ('pockets') and they smell like *DEATH*. Sure enough, I checked DD's and she had them too. Her tonsils were removed last July (swollen adenoids, mouth breathing, snoring, humongous tonsils etc.) and her breath is sweet smelling once more! DS's are easily flushed so I'm not worrying about his.

Long story short, you may want to take a high-powered flashlight and see if you can find anything.


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## PhoenixMommaToTwo (Feb 22, 2006)

Our DD had bad breath constantly even though she brushed two times a day. She was having some health issues recently and we took her to the dr and come to find our that she has pretty bad reflux and has probably since she was an infant. They put her on zantac and no more bad breath! It could definitely be something going on with her health or like pp's suggested maybe the toothpaste just isn't cutting it anymore.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

At 3, this probably isn't the problem, but both my kids get terrible breath for a week or so when they're cutting a tooth. Just throwing that out there for anyone with younger or older kids whose bad breath might be due to teething.


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## queen b (Jun 8, 2007)

thanks everyone! if she does have something stuck in her nasal cavity, how would i get it out? she was just at the dentist a few months ago and everything was fine. she did just have a bad cold, but it seems like the bad breath has lasted a lot longer than the cold did. i wonder if it's tonsil stones because i used to have those when i was little. i'm gonna get a flashlight and look in her mouth.

thanks!


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## soccermama (Jul 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChinaDoll* 
or dental cavities; has she been in for a dental cleaning yet? (says the mother whose DD had her first cavity filled at 21 months







)

UGH....we're going to get this done in a week and I'm so sad about it. DS is almost 3 1/2. Turns out, if we had completely knocked out warm milk at bedtime, this probably would've never happened. H was talking to his dad (our dentist) and he said that he should never have milk after brushing his teeth at night. It was a soothing mechanism for DS at the time, so we didn't think anything of it.....


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:

thanks everyone! if she does have something stuck in her nasal cavity, how would i get it out?
My husband used tweezers. I suppose someone else might advise taking them to the doctor to have them do it. I guess it would depend on how far up there and your own comfort level.


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## AAK (Aug 12, 2004)

One more reason--if your dd sleeps with mouth open it can cause bad breath.

Amy


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## Carley (Aug 16, 2005)

My daughter has horrible teeth & her breath smells. We brush & have always brushed 2x daily & she goes to the dentist.

Despite ALL of the literature out there, she has the same tooth issues as "baby bottle syndrome" because I breastfed her at night.

Flame me all you want, it's real.

Anyway, we use ACT & it helps. A lot. I know the whole flouride debate, but I used flouride my whole life & have only had 1 small cavity.


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## LeahC (Sep 10, 2007)

Reflux? Has your 3 year old complained about his belly hurting or not wanting to eat certain foods?

This just happened with a friend of mine's son. He has severe reflux (actually did damage to his esophagus!) and they are now trying to control it with diet and some meds. The biggest warning sign was terrible breath.


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