Bad Breath - Symptoms



SYMPTOM - Bad Breath Smells of Garbage. This is the most obvious sign of bad breath. If your breath has an odour then you need to determine the cause and strength of this odour. For example, bad breath that comes from the throat cannot be smelt by anyone except the sufferer. This is because the throat closes off not allowing these smells to exit through the mouth. However as you breathe out, your exhaled air wafts over the throat mucous and picks up some sulphur compounds that are then transferred to the nose where the sufferer is able to smell them. Most times the sufferer will complain of smelling a faecal odour.

SYMPTOM - Bad Breath Smells of Rotten Eggs. Breath that smells like this is due to the breakdown of cysteine. This usually comes from the front of the tongue surface and is a sign of inadequate oral hygiene.

SYMPTOM - Bad Breath Smells of Faeces. Of course if someone can smell a faecal odour when you speak then this is usually coming from the gums and back of the tongue surface. It is the same mechanics as throat bad breath, but because it is being formed in the mouth, the gases can escape to the public. 90% of bad breath comes from proteins in the mouth. In other words from coatings that are not cleaned away every twelve hours or from the breakdown of gum tissue. So excellent oral hygiene is the most important part of tackling a bad breath issue.

SYMPTOM - Sour or Metallic Taste. Volatile Sulphur Compounds (VSCs) not only smell but also taste foul. If you have adequate saliva, then the first thing that happens is the volatile compounds will dissolve into the saliva allowing you to taste them. It is only after your saliva becomes super saturated with compounds or you exhibit dry mouth where you do not have enough saliva, that the compounds will evaporate in to mouth air and then be pushed out with your breath or on speaking.

SYMPTOM - Metallic Taste. But it is not all so simple. If you have a metallic taste then this may be an indicator of dry mouth. Metallic taste can also occur if you chew too much chewing gum with artificial sweeteners, or if you use mouthwash with chlorhexidine or mouthwash with chlorine dioxide in it. If you place acid in your mouth, such as with coffee or commercial mouthwash then this also can cause a metallic taste. Finally acid will happen after every meal, regardless of the food being healthy or not. So the secret is not to snack on foods but eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you are still hungry then have morning tea and afternoon tea. But do not snack on foods in between these meals.

SYMPTOM - Tongue Coating. Just as you get a coating on your teeth called plaque, everyone gets some coating also on their tongue. This coating is generally a mixture of sulphur compounds mixed with mucous and sometimes food particles or coffee or tea and probably bacteria. If this coating is not cleaned away every 24 hours then it will mature and allow bad breath bacteria to live and grow within. Scrape Your Tongue To Examine The Coating. The best way to check if your coating on the tongue is causing any issues is to scrape it off with a tongue cleaner or spoon. Wait 10 seconds for the moisture to evaporate and then smell it. If the coating is more than twelve hours old you will have bacterial breakdown within the coating and you will be able to smell it. People with nasal drip will always have a coating on their tongue, but if that coating is removed every twelve hours, then the coating will not smell. So it is important to distinguish if the coating on the tongue is old or new, and how many hours it has been in your mouth.

SYMPTOM - Tonsil Stones. Patients that have post nasal problems often report coughing up small condensed stones that smell awful. These tonsil stones are made from compressed sulphur compounds, mucous, and bacteria. They are an excellent indicator of nasal problems, and maybe bad breath. Before the development of the Halicheck Oral Chroma, it was impossible to diagnose throat mucous causing bad breath. There was no machinery that was sophisticated enough to be able to separate these gases from other normal mouth gases. Halitophobics Have Nasal Mucous. Generally halitophobics have throat smells, that travel to the nose where they are able to be smelt. But these gases are blocked off by the throat and do not travel to the general public. So you get friends or doctors telling the person they do not have bad breath when in fact the sufferer can smell the breath 24/7. 

NOTE - Bad Breath is easily treatable with the KForce Range of Products. KForce comes with a personal guarantee that if the products do not work for you, we offer you a Free Consultation at our Edgecliff Clinic to review your individual case.