<human>: Can you provide a brief overview of the text?

As a young kid (up until I was about 12/13) I had really, really poor oral hygiene. My mum who I lived with until I was 10 never really encouraged me to take care of my mouth at all, and when I moved on to live with a foster family they had a real hard time getting me into the habit of taking care of them again. The problem is, the damage was done. My teeth were pretty bad (not quite horror story level though - I did brush my teeth somewhat, occasionally), but worst of all my breath stunk like horse manure, and it was incredibly powerful. It took a while for the comments I was getting in my new environment to sink in, but once they did, my self esteem started taking huge hits and that's when I started brushing and mouth-washing regularly. The thing is, I'm 17 now, and I feel as though things aren't a whole lot better. My breath isn't *as* bad, but I can't look people in the face when I'm talking to them still, and that really sucks if I'm honest. When I brush my teeth, the freshening effect only lasts about half an hour before my breath goes back to normal, and mouth wash (I use listerine) doesn't last me much longer.
<bot>: When I was younger I never brushed my teeth properly, so now my breath stinks constantly as a result of my past negligence, despite taking good care of them now.