People In L.A. Have The Best Breath: Survey

Want to let her down gently? Have some garlic.

Try Some Gum. Like Now.

When you're on a first date, there's a fine line between ice breakers and deal breakers. Bad breath is almost certainly the latter. According to a new survey, 48% of women say they would break up with you if you had really bad breath.

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Maybe it's because it suggests a lack of hygiene. Or maybe it's because it makes everyone wonder why you're so clueless. Either way, a bad case of halitosis is a surefire way to send your date running in the opposite direction.

A new survey commissioned by gum-maker Dentyne (which, of course, in no way has any interest in convincing you of the perils of bad breath) has found that most Americans find the condition to be one of the worst possible traits of a potential partner.

86 percent of people say they could not ignore someone's bad breath on a first date, and 53 percent say they've had to cut an intimate moment short because of someone's horrid mouth-stench.

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But it's even harder to tell them about it. 85 percent say it's more difficult to inform someone of their bad breath than to tell them their zipper is down.

Conversely, 71 percent say they feel less confident on a date if their own breath is not minty fresh.

And here's one that I don't even know what to do with: 76 percent of people say an intimate moment that ends because of bad breath is more embarrasing than one that ends because of unflattering underwear. Odd correlation but, ok.

So where can you go to find a land of happy shiny gums and breath that smells like honey and roses? Tinsel Town, of course. Los Angeles tops the list of best breath cities in the survey, followed by Atlanta and Dallas. At the bottom are Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco, because, we're supposed to surmise hippies don't brush their teeth?