Dec 04 2008
HALITOSIS BAD BREATH AFFECTING YOUR LIFE?
Halitosis bad breath is a common oral problem that plagues many people. Luckily, many people are willing to visit a dentist and seek medication for bad mouth odor. In a way, this allows the dentist to check for other existing problems such as tooth decay and periodontitis. It is easy to understand why people are more worried about their breath odor compared to decayed teeth or discolored tooth. Foul breath significantly affects the patient’s personal, social and business life, causing poor self-esteem and self-image. It is difficult to cuddle up to a partner when there is an unpleasant odor around, much less the thoughts of kissing. I would not buy anything from a sales person trying to kill me with his oral malodor either.
About 90% of all Halitosis bad breath is a function of oral dryness in the mouth and the food you eat without brushing your teeth there after. If you or a close partner has bad breath, you may have noticed that the strength of the foul odor varies throughout the day. Usually the worst odor occurs in the morning after waking up. This morning breath is caused by your mouth and saliva glands being inactive during the night while you sleep. Without saliva flowing, the mouth is unable to cleanse itself of the bacteria present in the mouth, teeth and tongue. Do you know that there are around 600 species of bacteria found in the mouth at any time? If you ate supper without brushing your teeth, things will only get worse. One of the most unpleasant odors are caused by oral bacteria acting on the proteins trapped in your mouth after meals. Fortunately, this type of Halitosis bad breath is usually transient and can be eradicated by brushing your teeth, and gargling with mouthwash. Properly flossing your teeth after meals helps a lot too.
The other types of bad breath are the persistent and chronic type. These are more serious and may indicate severe health problems such as fetor hepaticus, chronic liver failure, lower respiratory tract infections, lung infections, kidney renal infections, renal failure, carcinoma, trimethylaminuria, diabetes mellitus, etc. Some patients on the other hand, have the rare type of halitophobia, also known delusional halitosis. They firmly believe that they have bad oral breath, even though that is not the case. Needless to say, they are shy to open their mouth and usually have affected self-esteem and self-image. Thus, it seems that curing Halitosis bad breath is a more urgent need comparing to whitening of teeth.
