HALITOSIS or Bad Breath

Bad breath origine

Bad breath is caused by a buildup of anaerobic bacteria that produce Volatile Sulphur Compounds (VSC). Most bad breath problems are from the mouth, tongue throat and nasal passages. It is a misconception to believe that bad breath comes from the stomach or any other part of the digestive system. Everyone knows what a burp smells like and realizes that this is a totally different smell to bad breath. Also bad breath is unlikely to come from the stomach as you have a sphincter muscle that closes off the esophagus to stop food accidentally coming back up.

The most common sites for bad breath to originate is the very back of the tongue, throat, and the nasal passages. These areas are low in oxygen and therefore have high numbers of anaerobic bacteria that cause bad breath or halitosis. Also the nasal areas can contain excess mucous which is an excellent food source for the anaerobic bacteria that cause bad breath. Virtually every patient that passes through our clinics with chronic bad breath, has excess mucous in the back of the throat on clinical examination. This can be detected from something as subtle as having to constantly clear your throat, or having to continually swallow, feeling you have a lump in your throat, or just having smells in the back of the nose. Usually the patient does not know about this extra mucous problem until it is elicited under our questioning.

So it stands to reason, that to cure bad breath, we need to simply keep the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in the right balance. A simple statement, but not easy to achieve. Unfortunately bad breath is the result of our oral and nasal areas being out of balance. This can happen due to our lifestyle factors, such as drinking coffee and soft drinks. Or it can occur because of medicines we take. Again if we are an allergic person, or someone that easily stresses, these are also factors that will heighten a halitosis problem.

Generally to cure or rid yourself of bad breath you need to modify the lifestyle factor that is triggering your problem. You also need to use specialized products designed to balance the bacteria that live within your system.

When choosing which products to use, it is important to select a range of products specifically designed to fight bad breath. All these products will have oxygenating qualities as well as a bacteria balancing effect. Begin by purchasing a reputable kit, as fighting bad breath involves a thorough overall approach. Using just toothpaste or just mouthwash will not work.