Dear Anna,

My boyfriend has really bad breath and it’s a total mood killer whenever we kiss. What should I tell him to do?

-A.

Eek! This reminds me of a hot foreign exchange student who liked me way back in high school. He was a gorgeous man from either Columbia or Brazil — I can't remember which. Anyways, his breath was absolutely disgusting.

One day I was "sharing" a bunch of my Listerine breath strips with everyone at our table (thinking that he would take one and then my problem would be solved). Boy, was I wrong. His breath was still bad. Poor guy!

Tell your boyfriend that he should brush and floss a tad longer than usual. This way he'll get at more plaque. I did my research and it turns out that (worse-case scenario) he might have halitosis, which is constant bad breath. It can be fixed by through a series of deep-cleaning treatments by a dentist.

Before he does that though, he should try the first thing I mentioned.

I also found out that he should avoid alcohol-based mouth washes because they can dry out the mouth and cause more of a smell. Maybe that’s why the Listerine never worked for my foreign friend. Ah, if only I knew before he left!

Good luck, Anna

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