# How do breath mints work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251 "2007-11-20T22:33:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![happywaffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee59a6/32.png) [@happywaffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happywaffle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/1 "2007-11-20T22:33:15Z")
Do breath mints just mask existing taste/odor with their own, more pleasing taste/odor? Or is there some active ingredient that actually reduces the taste/odor? taste/odor taste/odor? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/2 "2007-11-20T22:47:48Z")
My WAG: They coat the mouth/tongue with oils or alcohols that cover up the odor for a time. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/3 "2007-11-20T22:50:51Z")
Doesn’t peppermint oil have some antiseptic properties, or am I just talking out of my ass? If that’s the case, the mint would kill some of the germs causing halitosis. _wanders off to find the answer_ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/4 "2007-11-20T22:56:49Z")
There are “active ingredients” in breath mints (generally peppermint essential oil or menthol), but IMHO, they mostly work by increasing saliva flow into the mouth. This, temporarily, washes away much of the bacteria causing the odor and you swallow it. After a bit, the bacteria regrow and your bad breath comes back. But yes, to a limited extent, essential oils are antibacterial, so they may retard the growth, but they don’t stop it entirely. Eventually, your saliva also washes away the remnants of the breath mint, too. There’s also bad breath that comes from further down the digestive tract. IME, the only thing breath mints do there is add their own odor to the stench. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/5 "2007-11-21T00:13:01Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Doesn’t peppermint oil have some antiseptic properties, or am I just talking out of my ass? [/QUOTE] Um… for the sake of the children, could you not use that particular expression when replying to threads about breath? _Think of the children!_ From [here](http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_peppermint.htm): > [@slightly flaky site](#): > > Peppermint derived volatile oils posses an antiseptic action, and this particular ability has now been confirmed as being bactericidal and anti-parasitic, it is also anti-fungal and antiviral at the same time, and these oils are used in the treatment of various skin problems such as cold sores and common ringworm in many different individuals. Not that that’s a perfect place for information, but a lot of other sites repeated the same sentiment. Not that repetition means it’s true… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/6 "2007-11-21T00:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] There’s also bad breath that comes from further down the digestive tract. [/QUOTE] I’ve always been a bit wary of this. Unless you have an usually large build-up of bacteria in your esophagus for some reason, the mouth is really the only place it could come from. In most people, the esophageal sphincter stays pretty damn shut most of the time, so whatever odors might be in the stomach aren’t going to “migrate up”, so to speak. This is easily shown by the fact that when you burp, you get a taste of what’s down there, since it does open for a brief period of time to let the gas out. You don’t taste that all the time, do you? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/7 "2007-11-21T01:27:11Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] This is easily shown by the fact that when you burp, you get a taste of what’s down there, since it does open for a brief period of time to let the gas out. You don’t taste that all the time, do you? [/QUOTE] I have had periods where I do, yes. It’s pretty dreadful, and painful - it’s usually accompanied by something the Chinese call “plum pit chi”, which feels exactly like a plum pit is stuck in your throat. I’ve never found a Western diagnosis, although I’ve been assured it’s not acid reflux or GERD. It’s NOT regular ordinary bad breath though, it’s far more putrid, constant (it goes away for only about a minute when I brush, floss and Listerine) and, like I said, painful. But thank goodness I don’t have it all the time. It’s far worse when I’m abusing caffeine or herbal stimulants, I’ve noticed. ---
**Author:** ![tonedef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@tonedef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonedef)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/8 "2007-11-21T02:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] There are “active ingredients” in breath mints (generally peppermint essential oil or menthol), but IMHO, **they mostly work by increasing saliva flow into the mouth.** This, temporarily, washes away much of the bacteria causing the odor and you swallow it. After a bit, the bacteria regrow and your bad breath comes back. But yes, to a limited extent, essential oils are antibacterial, so they may retard the growth, but they don’t stop it entirely. Eventually, your saliva also washes away the remnants of the breath mint, too.. [/QUOTE] ^^^Thats what they say on the minted crewing gum adds. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-breath-mints-work/427251/9 "2007-11-21T02:31:53Z")
Better question: how do listerine strips work? Listerine (especially the white, hydrogen peroxide one) is great for bad breath. Are the strips just a waste?