| A
female
,
anonymous
writes: Hi Dear Cupid, I was wondering if you could give me advice on my friends bad breath? It smells really bad and whenever she breaths in mine or my friends direction, we can't help but look away and it feels really rude. How can we tell her that her breath stinks without hurting her feelings? Also, incase she asks, how can she solve her problem of bad breath, chewing gum doesn't seem to help her. Thanks. Reply to this Question
Share |
Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, willywombat  +, writes (11 February 2006):
 You have to bite the bullet and tell her. Sit her down and tell her that sometimes you ahve noticed that her breath smells a little. Explain you are telling her this precisely because you are her friends and you don't want her to find out by somebody being rude to her.
Let her know that if you were in the same boat you would want your friends to tell you. Because you would wouldn't you?
Be prepared for her to be really emabarrassed about it for a while. But eventually I think she will thank you for it.
xx
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 February 2006): I suggest sublte approaches like offering mints, or keeping a couple of feet distance when speaking to her. You shouldn't judge people by their breath.
...............................
A
reader, Rebecca Batchelor +, writes (9 February 2006):
 This is a difficult one but you do need to tell her otherwise she could go through life completely oblivious to why people turn away from her until someone tells her in a nasty way.
It could be due to poor oral hygiene or there could be something there that needs to be investigated.
Perhaps the best way to begin to let her know that all is not well is to ask her if she has any tooth ache or maybe an abscess in her mouth as her breath isn't smelling very good. This will show you are concerned about her health and not simply complaining that she has halitosis.
You could get onto the subject of teeth and dentists (you know, talk about a models perfect teeth, teeth whitening, false teeth! Anything really to do with the mouth) and even gently suggest to her that if she finds that brushing her teeth and using a mouthwash (this may help get rid of bad breath too) doesn't work, to go to the doctors to help find the cause.
Okay, there is a possibility that she will be offended a little but as long as you are tactful, she will be fine in the end. Explain to her that you are her friends and are simply concerned for her.
I think, I'm afraid to say, you may have to be cruel to be kind here to let her know the truth.
Good luck.
...............................
|
