Why Does My Breath Smell in the Morning?

Morning breath is normal and happens to almost everyone. Overnight, your mouth produces much less saliva, and saliva is what normally rinses away food particles and the bacteria that create odor. With the flow slowed down for hours, that bacteria and debris build up — especially on the back of the tongue — leaving the familiar morning smell.

Mouth breathing or sleeping with your mouth open makes it more noticeable, since it dries things out further. The simple fixes: brush and clean your tongue before bed so there's less to ferment overnight, stay hydrated, and scrape your tongue in the morning, since a lot of the odor sits there rather than on the teeth. More in why scrape your tongue.

Try a Dentō tongue scraper.