Figuring out the cause of bad breath is the first step, obviously, in doing something about it. Here’s what you can do to keep your breath as fresh as possible:

Keep your mouth clean. “That’s the key thing,” stresses Sebastian G. Ciancio, D.D.S., professor and chairman of the Department of Periodontology and clinical professor of pharmacology at the School of Dental Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo. That means a thorough brushing twice a day. It also means flossing regularly. Food and bacteria trapped between teeth and at the gum line can only be removed with floss; if it’s left to linger, it’s not going to smell nice.

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Halitosis is better than no breath at all,” jokes one dentist. But the problem of halitosis, or bad breath, has plagued mankind for centuries, leaving few people laughing about it. To conquer bad breath, the ancient Greeks reputedly rinsed with white wine, anise seed, and myrrh, while the Italians mixed up a mouthwash of sage, cinnamon, juniper seeds, root of cypress, and rosemary leaves, according to the Academy of General Dentistry.

Today, Americans spend more than half a billion dollars for mouthwashes that often contain little more than alcohol and flavoring. But people worry about their breath. Indeed, New York Times health columnist Jane E. Brody has written that she receives more questions about bad breath than about any other common medical problem.

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