It’s official — bad breath is number one. Number one when it comes to offensiveness, that is. In a poll of Canadians undertaken by Oral-B, 44% responded that bad breath was the “most offensive oral misdemeanor in the workplace.” Many added that if they knew they had dragon breath, they might skip out on their job or avoid important meetings in order to avoid offending their colleagues.

So is the problem an epidemic of poor oral hygiene? According to the director of a Toronto bad breath clinic, the problem may be more complicated. Director Anne Bosy is looking into the possibility that most corporate bad breath stems from more holistic problems, such as suppressed immune systems, too much stress and just plain bad eating habits.

If you have an occasional problem with bad breath, Bosy suggests you make sure you eat breakfast. Starving your body of food for 12 hours invites your body to begin a ketosis-like process which, as Atkins followers know, rarely leads to sweet breath.

Bad breath at the workplace is something to take seriously. Not just in Canada, but virtually everywhere, workers first learn of their breath problem when someone else tells them. And if they fail to overcome it, they begin to lose confidence and avoid interacting with others, which costs some people promotions down the road.

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