It is inaccurate to say that a product kills 99.9 percent of bacteria; rather, the phrase should be "99.9 percent of bad bacteria." This is because some bacteria are good, while others are bad to the core. If you say that a product kills bacteria, it literally includes the good and the bad.

Considering bacteria in general as bad things is like subjecting an entire race to discrimination. Some bacteria can do great things for your body, such as forming a wall of defense against diseases. The mouth is home to more than 700 kinds of bacteria. While it may be difficult to discern which ones keep your mouth healthy and which ones make it smell like yesterday’s dinner, oral hygiene is usually the general cure.

Bruce Paster, an associate professor at Harvard University, says bad breath is usually a sign of something wrong. It usually indicates that there are more bad bacteria than good bacteria. If that was not the case, then every man, woman, and child in the world would have bad breath.

Paster is part of a team that identified the bacteria putting the "eew" and "eau" in breaths. From the six people in the bad breath group, the team spotted several species of bad bacteria, as well as identifying good bacteria from the fresh breath group. This bacteria hunt successfully identified species that cause halitosis, or abnormally bad breath, which can be used to develop modern remedies.

The team also found out that the most of the bacteria causing bad breath are barely present in mouths with fresh breaths. This means that ideal living conditions in the mouth can promote the growth of good bacteria. One way to make a place good for comfortable living is cleaning it—and in case of the mouth, regular brushing is cleaning. Atlanta Dentists always tell their patients to observe proper oral hygiene regularly.

Brushing may get rid of the good bacteria in the process; but bacteria can grow back. New good bacteria will take their place, and bad bacteria won’t outnumber them. If you are one of tens of millions of Americans suffering from bad breath, Dentists Atlanta has to offer say that brushing and flossing regularly is still the best way to prevent it.

Any Atlanta cosmetic dentist will tell you that even people who had implants or bleaching are still encouraged to observe proper oral hygiene regularly. For more info on the study, visit the Harvard Gazette online at news.harvard.edu.