suffer from bad breath, which is an embarrassing problem but something I've had to live with for a few years. I'm used to people occasionally backing away from me. My dentist assures me that my dental hygiene is good, I floss, I brush regularly and I try my best to avoid certain foods which are known to cause mouth odour, but it's still there. Due to this, I have to use a breath freshener on a daily basis. It gives me confidence, and without it I'd feel really a little bit insecure, if I'm honest.

I've tried loads of different sorts and McLean's Confidence Fresh Breath spray was one of the first ones I did try, ages ago. I stopped because it just didn't work well for me and I think I needed something that was a little more 'industrial' strength, so to speak.

This used to come in a handy little 15ml spray and the size was perfect for my handbag. I'd use this, as I use all my breath freshener sprays, about four times (or more) per day, especially after I'd eaten or drink a lot of tea or coffee, which for some reason makes the problem worse for me. The bottle cost £1.99 at the time and they were fairly easy to find, and still are, I think, in supermarkets and chemists.

The spray worked like the one I use at the moment, and I'd just spray it once or twice at the back of my throat, on top of my tongue. The spray was a pleasant minty taste and quite strong and it made me feel like I'd just cleaned my teeth with a strong flavoured toothpaste. The ingredients are:

Aqua, Alcohol, Sorbitol, Glycerin, PEG-60, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Zinc Chloride, Cetylpyridinium Chloride, Aroma, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Saccharin, Limonene, Citral.

This was a spray that my own dentist had actually recommended to me and the first bottle I'd purchased was immediately after a routine dental check up at the surgery. My dentist sells a range of toothpastes and dental accessories, mainly McLeans, for some reason. I wasn't really very impressed with this spray's ability to work very effectively, especially over a long period of time.

I could actually taste a stale taste coming back into my mouth in under one hour of spraying, and I personally don't really consider that a product that's doing its job very effectively. It was an antibacterial mouth spray and my dentist suggested it as he thought that my problem was bacterial-related. As I say, however, it just didn't do an effective job for me and I quickly switched to something else that worked much better for me.

I wouldn't NOT recommend this product for other people to try, but for me personally, I couldn't say it worked well at all, though for someone who just wants to freshen their breath rather than eliminate bad odour, it might possibly do the trick.

Also posted on Ciao! as basketofbuttons