Bad breath in the morning is not unusual and can vary from a stale odor to a slightly smelly breath. However in some cases the odor may be so offensive that the breath may resemble the smell of feces, flatus, fish or even rotting or decaying organic matter (similar to a garbage can or dead animal). Despite good oral hygiene before bedtime and a clean bill of health from a dentist, the bad morning breath may persist.
A person with chronic bad breath (halitosis) is likely to have an offensive morning breath but at times, bad morning breath exists almost exclusively with no indication of halitosis during the day. The cause of bad breath may be due to oral, pulmonary (respiratory passages) or gastrointestinal (gut) disorders.
