Research released today reveals that, for single Brits, bad morning breath is a bigger turn off than body odour, with 37% claiming it’s their biggest turn off.
Health on Female First
The research, commissioned by Colgate, investigated people’s attitudes towards bad morning breath.
The research revealed that a shocking 40% of Brits avoid their partners in the morning because of morning breath and will only kiss them if they have cleaned their teeth.
Nearly a fifth would be too embarrassed to talk to their partners about their bad morning breath and over a third of those on the dating scene said they would break it off immediately if their partner developed bad morning breath.
Dentist Simon Khoury comments: ''Overnight your mouth becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, even more so than in the day. As you have less saliva at night, odour-causing bacteria have the chance to multiply resulting in unpleasant morning breath. No one likes having morning breath. It’s understandable if you don’t want to kiss a partner who has it, but we found that people were going to extreme measures to avoid it – from waking up extra early to brush their teeth to actually breaking up with a partner.
“People pay particular attention to morning breath in the beginning of a relationship, when it can be a huge worry. Apparently this eases as people get more comfortable, but for many it remains a concern. Bad breath is even a bigger turn-off than body odour, which proves how conscious people are of it. Yet it appears that many people are too embarrassed to talk about it, and are secretly desperate for a solution.”
For singletons though, bad morning breath is a worse turn off than body odour, with 37% claiming it is the biggest turn off.
For this reason, almost a third of singletons set their alarms early so they could brush their teeth before a partner wakes up and 41% of people admitted that morning breath is their biggest worry when spending the night with a new partner.
For that reason alone, 9% of people avoid sleepovers all together and 16% keep a supply of emergency mints next to the bed to keep their breath fresh at all times.
Interestingly, as a relationship progresses, morning breath becomes less of a concern, with 25% of Brits admitting that they used to wake up early to brush their teeth before their partner but now they don’t, with a third giving up this teeth cleaning ritual when they moved in together and a further 25% only feeling safe to do this once they had a ring on their finger.
Will you be brushing your teeth in anticipation for some love on Valentine's Day morning?
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