Bad breath can put your social interactions at risk!
Bad breath is a medical condition that lowers your self-esteem and affects your everyday life and personal relationships. People with chronic or recurring bad breath often lose their self-confidence. However, it can be difficult to know if you have bad breath. Family members, friends and colleagues may not tell you but may hesitate to interact with you.
Bad breath, which is also called halitosis, is an embarrassing health condition that affects approximately 30% of people around the world. It is associated with a foul oral odour. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, in over 90% of bad breath cases, the odour originates in the mouth, throat, and tonsils.
4 Common Causes Of Bad Breath
There are many causes of bad breath but these 4 are the most common:
- Dry mouth – a dry mouth provides a perfect environment for anaerobic bacteria reproduction. Long periods of speaking, smoking, drinking alcohol and snoring are a few common reasons why people experience dry mouth.
- Foods – Bad breath can be made worse by certain foods such as onions and garlic because they contain smelly sulfur compounds. Dairy, meat and fish contain dense proteins which are used as a food source by the anaerobic, sulfur-producing bacteria that cause bad breath. Refined and processed sugars also provide a food source for bacteria. Coffee and juices can contribute to bad breath because they are acidic and provide the bacteria with an ideal breeding environment.
- Poor dental hygiene – Inadequate oral care leads to bacterial buildup on the teeth and gums. This leads to gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis, which can cause halitosis because the proteins from bleeding gums and diseased oral tissue provide fuel to odour-causing bacteria.
Illness and disease – According to studies, in approximately 10% of all cases, bad breath is caused by certain illnesses. Individuals who suffer from diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease, cancer, liver disease, respiratory tract infections or metabolic disorders often experience chronic bad breath due to dry mouth. Sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchitis, post nasal drip and polyps affect the airways and may cause halitosis. Other common illnesses than can cause bad breath include nasal odour, putrefaction from the tonsils, tooth decay, yeast infections of the mouth and gum disease. Certain drugs such as antidepressants, high blood pressure medications and antihistamines can cause bad breath because they reduce saliva production.
The bad breath odour is usually caused by a group of anaerobic, sulfur-producing bacteria that breed beneath the surface of the tongue and often in the throat and tonsil area. As long as anaerobic bacteria feeding on proteins and excreting volatile sulfur compounds continues unchecked, your breath will become worse and worse. That is where Dr. Martin K. La-Kumi at Volta Dental Clinic has been able to help many patients suffering from halitosis.
Bad Breath Treatment By Dr. La-Kumi in Toronto
At Volta Dental we can diagnose, treat and control bad breath problems. Bad breath treatment depends on its cause. Please keep in mind that you cannot eliminate the bacteria that cause bad breath from the tongue. The bacteria that cause bad breath are actually part of your normal oral flora and need to be present in order to break down proteins as a key step in proper digestion. Scraping or brushing the tongue is a temporary solution at best.
A much simpler and clinically-proven method to treat bad breath is to interrupt the bacteria’s chemical production of odours by the introduction of oxygenating compounds to your oral environment. Oxygen is lethal to the bacteria that cause bad breath because they are anaerobes and cannot survive or function in the presence of oxygen.
In general, Dr. La-Kumi will recommend mouthwashes and toothpastes that contain oxidizing agents such as chlorine dioxide or sodium chlorite to neutralize volatile sulfur compounds and help control odour causing bacteria found in the mouth.
Using a Halimeter® to Diagnose Bad Breath
The Halimeter is the most commonly used clinical diagnostic instrument in the field of Halitosis. It measures the concentration of Hydrogen Sulfide in parts per billion (ppb) in mouth air. The Halimeter (also known as a portable sulfide gas monitor) uses a patented electrochemical voltammetric sensor, providing reproducible results for clinicians for the past 20 years.