Why Smoking Gives You Terrible Breath
- Cigarettes contain chemicals, such as tar and nicotine, which accumulate in your mouth and cause a foul odor, producing bad breath. The substances stick to surfaces like your teeth, gums and tongue.
- The chemicals that stick to your mouth also serve as welcoming surfaces to which odor-causing bacteria can attach themselves, according to Stop Smoking. Bacteria thrive in dark, moist places, such as the mouth.
- Smoking also can dry out your mouth, another way in which odor-causing bacteria can take over. A moist mouth is one where there is a continuous flow of saliva, which serves to clean out your mouth and keep your breath fresh. Saliva rids your mouth of bacteria, which stink.
