A few types of bad breath remedies have been around for a long time. It seemed to start with television ads about morning breath, and quickly progressed to talk of antibacterial ingredients that would kill harmful bacteria in the mouth and leave us all with fresh smelling breath. We've now progressed to acknowledging that, for many people, halitosis isn't just a morning problem, it's an all day problem, and it can be a social problem of personally devastating proportions.

We know a lot more about the causes of halitosis now as well, and the legions of bad breath remedies have divided into two main camps: the products that have a strong taste and odor that simply aim to overpower the halitosis, and the products that are specifically aimed at the bacteria that are causing the problem. The very best bad breath treatment will be a product that targets the bacteria responsible, while leaving all the other normal, protective microorganism in the mouth unscathed.

The additive chlorhexidine was probably the first antibacterial ingredient in bad breath remedies that had a significant impact on the odor-producing bacteria. These bacteria live in the oxygen-free environment at the back of the tongue and produce sulfur compounds as part of their regular activities. Chlorhexidine kills them. It never kills all of them however, and one must maintain regular rinses with a bad breath treatment containing chlorhexidine in order to stay ahead of the halitosis.

Today, a new trend in bad breath remedies is bringing us a collection of natural approaches to killing off halitosis bacteria. Some of these approaches deliver oxygen to the back of the mouth so that the anaerobic environment there is disrupted, and the bacteria are unable to live. Again, this bad breath treatment has to be maintained over the long term, but it is appealing in that it prevents the bacteria from growing in the first place, rather than killing them off after they are already there.

Another of the new bad breath remedies uses a two-step approach with an olive oil rinse that just mops up the bacteria and carries them off. This bad breath treatment is based on the interesting fact that the bacteria in question tend to adhere to oil droplets - and that olive oil is undoubtedly safe and probably even beneficial to health.

One last intriguing approach to bad breath treatment uses the idea of probiotics: where there are harmful or undesirable bacteria, the introduction of beneficial friendly bacteria may crowd the undesirables out. For an example of how this works, imagine how the sudden introduction of some new species into an area (say, gray squirrels where only red squirrels are living) can push the native species out and even make them extinct in that ecological area. The mouth is an ecological area as well, and a little healthy competition can be a great addition to the world of bad breath remedies.