We’re all likely to be a little self-conscious about our breath after indulging in extra onions on our steak, going for another piece of garlic bread at dinner or downing a third cup of coffee. When we’re unable to make time or find a place for brushing our teeth, most of us reach for a trusty breath mint to spare our families or office neighbors any pain.
There’s clear evidence that most of us rely on breath mints on a regular basis when you consider that, in all their forms, breath mints are a multibillion-dollar industry. But, other than simple flavor preference, how do we choose one that will be truly effective in banishing bad breath?
Our Guide to Best Breath Mints will provide all the answers!
What You Should Know
Breath mints work in two fundamental ways. They cover up bad odor with a strong scent of their own and they cause our mouths to produce more saliva which helps wash away some odor-causing bacteria. So, the best breath mints and best breath fresheners DO work, but their effectiveness is short-term meaning we may tend to use them frequently. Fortunately, most of them are fairly inexpensive and very easy to find including the 6 most highly rated ones we have listed below for you!
Top 6 Breath Mints Table
| Picture | Name | Sugar Free | Price | Rating (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. Listerine PocketPaks | No | $$$ | 4.8 |
 | 2. Altoids Arctic Mints | No | $ | 4.8 |
 | 3. ICE BREAKERS Mints Wintergreen | Yes | $$$$ | 4.7 |
 | 4. Altoids Smalls Wintergreen | Yes | $ | 4.7 |
 | 5. LifeSavers Hard Wint-O-Green | No | $$$ | 4.6 |
 | 6. BREATH SAVERS Mints | No | $$ | 4.5 |
Buying Information for Breath Mints
There are really only a few criteria to consider when selecting a breath mint:
- Do they taste good?
- How long do they last?
- Will they damage my teeth?
Thanks to the breath mint and breath freshener manufacturers, almost all of them taste great. And most are made in a variety of flavors from peppermint or spearmint to wintergreen and cinnamon.
The majority will mask bad breath for several minutes to a half hour but not much longer, so it’s important to consider sugar content since that is what will concern your dentist most! If your favorite breath mint isn’t sugar-free, don’t worry: just concentrate on finding a version of it that dissolves the fastest so it spends as little time as possible in contact with your teeth.
Many breath mints – particularly the strips – are now made with ingredients found in mouthwash or toothpaste that have plaque-fighting properties, so you can also look for this sort of information on the packaging when considering your options.
Finally, don’t despair if the best breath mint for you seems to disappear from convenience store or grocery store shelves. Manufacturers react quickly to the latest trends in this industry and often continue to make your favorite mint but package it differently or change the name. A little sleuthing on the internet will lead you right back to it.
Top 3 Best Breath Mints Reviews
1. Listerine
The name Listerine is normally associated with mouthwash, but they also make this handy dandy product, which currently ranks as the best breath mint according to consumers. Instead of a lozenge, it is in the form of small strips that you pull from the pack one at a time and place on your tongue to dissolve (think tiny post-it note).
Best of all, the strips DO have mouthwash in them so not only do they serve as a great breath freshener but they also have the American Dental Association’s seal of acceptance because the strips fights plague and gingivitis just like Listerine mouthwash.
The strip dissolves on your tongue within a few seconds meaning it starts to work fast and is very discreet in situations – like presentations or meetings – where chewing gum or using slower dissolving mints might not work. The slender pack slips right into your pocket, purse or briefcase but do be cautious about leaving them in the car since they will melt.
2. Altoids
Known as the “curiously strong mint”, Altoids Artic Mints come in at number 2 on our 6 best breath mints list. If you’ve never tried them, beware – Altoids do indeed have a very strong mint flavor but they are also extremely long-lasting and not at all chalky.
Rather than the traditional flat metal tin used with some of their other products, Altoids has packaged this mint in a stand-up, flip-top version of the tin and has made the mints sugar-free. They are a little smaller than the traditional Altoid but still pack all the punch of the larger size and consumers gave the artic mint flavor high marks.
3. ICE BREAKERS
Also sugar-free, this wintergreen flavor mint from Ice Breakers has flavor crystals you can actually see that give the mint its long-lasting effectiveness.
The container is one of the unique features of this product since it has two openings – a small one that dispenses a single mint at a time, and a larger one that can be used when you want to pass them around and share.
If you don’t care for wintergreen, Ice Breakers makes this mint in cinnamon, spearmint and cool mint flavors.