This Is Definitely The Coolest Way To Tell If Your Breath Is Smelly

Keeping tabs on your breath used to mean relying on your dinner companion's facial expression or that classic breathing-into-your-hand maneuver. Now, Breathometer's new Mint gadget can tell you whether that garlic-bread scent is still lurking — and whether your stinky breath could actually signal a larger health issue.

The portable gadget, which connects to your phone so you can track your data, monitors your hydration levels and breath quality by measuring the volatile compounds in your breath. These are produced by bacteria in the mouth and can be an indicator of gum disease. Other bad breath-causing compounds are found in foods like beef and cheese.

It turns out that your oral health is a surprisingly important thing to keep tabs on. Monitoring the fragile bacterial ecosystem in your mouth is a great way to get insight into your overall health. For instance, infections and inflammation caused by these bacteria have been linked to cardiovascular disease. And, osteoporosis can cause tooth issues in addition to weakening your bones.

Mint is Breathometer's third product. It follows in the footsteps of the company's two other smartphone-enabled breathalyzers, the original Breathometer and the wireless Breeze. Essentially, the company's plan is to make keeping track of your health a fun thing to do — and, with these products all successfully crowdfunded, the plan seems to be working.