!!! IT DOESN’T WORK UNLESS YOU BOIL IT !!!
My bad breath is from a tooth that’s literally rotting away in the back of my mouth because a filling fell out a few years ago and got reinfected, and I can’t afford to go to the dentist because I’m uninsured and can’t work enough due to migraines.
Take a small glass cup and fill it with barely 1/4 inch of water (1 to 2 Tbs) then microwave it for 10 seconds. You’ll know it’s hot enough when you add the 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of baking soda and it FIZZES IMMEDIATELY when you add it to the water and stir. If there’s some undissolved baking soda left at the bottom that’s fine, it means you reached the maximum saturation possible. That’s good. Set it aside for a few minutes to COOL DOWN while you do the rest of your bathroom routine. This should be your last step in your oral routine. Quickly dip your finger in it before you swish so you don’t burn yourself, people. It will taste super salty and gross, but I try to swish for a full minute before spitting it out. I also try not to drink or eat anything for 20 minutes to an hour afterwards for maximum effect. I don’t know if that part really helps, you can drink something if you want to get rid of the aftertaste. I only have to do this every other day. It works that well.
It WON’T WORK if you mix the baking soda into lukewarm or even hot water—even the hottest water from my tap doesn’t work. It might look dissolved but it doesn’t kill my bad breath unless it’s boiling hot before adding the baking soda.
Only downside is you can’t make a big batch ahead of time or keep it in the fridge. As the water cools it can’t hold as much of a saturation, so the baking soda separates from the water and crystallizes at the bottom. The remaining water is useless so you have to do the microwave thing daily or every other day.
Nothing I did worked until this. When coworkers started offering me gum or mints I knew it was really bad. My cousin sat next to me on the couch and kindly told me she can smell my body odor, but after we both sniffed my scentless armpits she was perplexed. I knew it was my rancid breath. This was while my routine was brush, mouthwash, hydrogen peroxide, then more mouthwash. I even tried diluted bleach because of some other desperate person’s testimonial. I tried swishing with clove tea made by boiling a dozen cloves in a cup of water and steeping overnight. I tried straight baking soda on my toothbrush. This was very irritating to my gums and even though I thought it was dissolved after a few minutes it wasn’t and didn’t change the pH of my mouth or make a difference.
Yes I think the root of the issue is diet and systemic fungal overgrowth leading to cavities and tons of other problems, but this is an AMAZING and SIMPLE solution for the day to day bad breath problem. I just want to help others fix it like I did. Good luck!!