Natural Remedies for Bad Breath: What 26 Studies Found

When breath worries you, the internet offers a long list of natural fixes. Researchers in Belgium noted that embarrassment drives people online looking for exactly these, like oil pulling and herbs.¹ So they reviewed the evidence.

The review of alternative remedies

The review counted anything other than tongue cleaning and standard zinc, chlorhexidine or cetylpyridinium products as alternative.¹ It found 26 controlled studies.¹

• Essential oils, fluoride products and herbs were studied most.¹
• Results varied enormously, and no ingredient clearly worked.¹
• Every study was at high risk of bias.¹
• Fluoride toothpaste and probiotics looked the most promising.¹
• Long-term follow-up was scarce.¹

The authors concluded there’s not enough evidence that alternative remedies add anything.¹

The mainstream options aren’t much stronger

A Cochrane review of 44 trials with 1,809 people tested tongue cleaning, gums, toothpastes, mouthwashes and more.²

• Most trials lasted only 1 to 4 weeks.²
• The evidence was low to very low certainty across the board.²
• Brushing plus a cetylpyridinium mouthwash did slightly better than brushing alone in one trial.²
• The reviewers couldn’t say any treatment was better than another.²

What this means

Weak evidence for remedies doesn’t mean nothing helps. It’s a reason to start with the basics and find the source:

1. Brush with fluoride toothpaste, one of the more promising options in the review.¹
2. Clean your tongue; see tongue scrapers.
3. Check your gums; see gum disease and bad breath.
4. Skip expensive extras unless you’ve tried the basics. See probiotic lozenges, oil pulling and does mouthwash fix bad breath?

Try: “I’ve tried green tea, parsley and oil pulling for my breath and nothing lasts. Can you check where it’s coming from?”

Is It My Breath? covers the masking products in Chapter 2, “Brush Harder, Mask It, Keep Your Distance,” in a section called “Answer Two: Mask It.” Its Source Map helps you narrow down where your breath is coming from before you spend money on remedies. See the book.