If you have bad breath, this can be a major turn-off when you are trying to meet and pick up single women. And the main problem is that you may not even be aware that you have bad breath which can instantly ruin your chances of attracting and dating all those hot & sexy single women of your dreams. At the end of this article I will show you how to test your breath.

"Over a 24-hour period, everyone has bouts of bad breath," said Carol Meyer, a dental hygienist and president of Personal Breath Consultants Inc., based in Long Island, NY.

The American Dental Association estimates that 40 percent of adults - 85 million Americans - have chronic bad breath. The most common cause of bad breath is bacteria, trapped food between the teeth, and poor dental hygiene.

Today, Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on rinses, mints and gums to to make their breath fresher. Unfortunately, these are only short-term fixes. "They temporarily help," said Dr. Richard Haydon, a University of Kentucky ear, nose and throat specialist. Mouthwashes, for instance, will last less than an hour. Haydon also cautions that most mouthwashes contain alcohol, which can irritate the tissues of the mouth.

Ironically, excess alcohol also causes bad breath, so people who use excessive amounts of mouthwashes with alcohol might end up with worse breath than they started with.

There's only one way for most people to control bad breath: "Immaculate oral hygiene," Dr. Ted Raybould, a University of Kentucky dentist said. That includes brushing twice daily for at least two minutes each time, making sure to hit all areas of every tooth. "And flossing's the biggest one," Raybould said. "Food gets stuck between the teeth and starts to rot."

Tongue cleaning is also important in eliminating bad breath. Tooth brushes aren't really designed to clean the tongue, especially the back areas of the tongue, where offensive bacteria collects. The best way to clean the tongue is by using tongue cleaners you can purchase from your dentists, drug store, and other outlets. A University of Toronto study found that tongue cleaning reduced sulfur gases and offensive odor by 75 percent - 50 percent more than just brushing.

It is also recommended while brushing your teeth that you gently brush inside the cheeks and gums and the roof of the mouth.

Using the advice contained in this article should eliminate any bad breath problems that can affect your dating and love life. If you follow this program for good dental hygiene and you still have bad breath, then perhaps you have a medical problem that causes bad breath and you should see your doctor.

So, how can you tell if you have bad breath? There are three easy ways, according to Meyer, a leading breath consultant:

• Lick your wrist and take a whiff of it.

• Swab the inside of your cheeks or tongue with a piece of gauze or cotton swab and sniff.

• Floss with unscented dental floss and smell the floss.

Trust me, this is the most accurate method of testing your breath. Breathing into your cupped hands and taking a whiff is not accurate.

I just can't stress to you enough how important it is to not have bad breath when you're trying to meet, attract, date, and seduce single women. I know you may think it's a pain in the ass to take care of your teeth and tongue, but it's worth it because you certainly don't want to become a failure with women because of something that you can easily correct.