Why the air expelled from the mouth is smelly while the air expelled from the nose isn’t?
In: Biology
How do you smell when you are blowing out?
Your mouth is filled with millions of harmless bacteria which eat food particles left in your mouth and expel smelly gases as a byproduct. Your nasal passage is mostly bacteria free.
It also comes down to desensitization. Much like your nose always being in your vision. Your brain tunes of the smell of your nasal cavity naturally so it can do it’s job.
Your nose fights off stinky germs, while your mouth is happy to have them over for dinner.
EL you’re in middle school version:
Your respiratory tract is full of mucus, which has antimicrobial properties. The whole setup of hair, mucus, and cilia is our evolutionary response to containing/eliminating microbial threats in this part of the body.
Then, we have the mouth. Here, we do a whole lot to make bacteria happy. We feed them and give them places to live, so they pay us back by producing bad-smelling waste (among other things). We fight these specifically by brushing/flossing our teeth, using mouthwash, reducing sugar intake, and seeing a dentist regularly.
Edit: Some have pointed out that our mind “filters” out the smell of our nose and the respiratory tract in general. This is true, but breath leaving your nose should not have an offensive smell. If you or an observer notices a stink coming out of your nose, it’s likely due to an infection.
I’d guess it’s the difference between what’s in your mouth and what’s in your nose.
I had a temporary crown removed today – not sure if it was that I couldn’t properly clean around it or what (I normally have pretty good oral hygiene), but it reeked. Nasty.
Your food in your mouth feeds stinky bacteria that grow there. Your nose doesn’t have food for bacteria so there are fewer in your nose.
If I burp and I am in a car with someone I hold it in my mouth and exhale through my nose. I’ve always noticed this doesn’t produce a noticeable foul smell when drinking or eating something odd. Haha
My understanding is the smell lives in your mouth and not your lungs. The smell is actually from decaying food and whatnot. That decaying food also is what causes cavities/caries. So unless you start eating with your nose you shouldn’t have to worry about bad nose breath.
Not trying to be offensive, but could it be that OP just has bad breath?
I dont think everyone’s breath from the mouth smells
My sneezes do have a distinct smell. It’s very “old lady” like, kind of floral. I never noticed until sneezing in my mask a few times
air in your lungs isnt stinky, but when it passes over your tongue, which isn’t always clean because of germs, it gains a stink, but when it goes through your nose it dosen’t.
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