Bad Breath

I know what halitosis is. In case you don’t, it’s the same thing as oral malodor, fetor oris, fetor ex ore, foul breath and breath odor. In other words, it’s bad breath. I know you know what that is.

 

Halitosis is those bad odors exhaled from a person’s body, usually the mouth. It’s that stink you have smelled coming from other people.

 

Halitosis is that same odor other people smell coming from you at times. Yes, you. You know it’s true or you wouldn’t be reading this.

 

OK, maybe you are that rare person who never has halitosis. By the way, if you don’t have it but are afraid that you do, you have halitophobia. Some consolation!

Do you have halitosis? That’s hard to know. Even if you have it, few will come right out and tell you. The best way to find out is to ask someone else. Not just anyone else. You have to ask someone who will tell you the truth. That’s going to be a close relative or a close, trusted friend. Or maybe a kid who hasn’t learned to lie.

 

There are a few tests to see if you have halitosis. One is to lick the back of your hand or wrist, let your saliva dry, and then smell your wrist. Life should be so simple. Research has found this to be a poor test. Most bad breath does not come from the front of your tongue.

 

A better test for halitosis is to scrape the back of your tongue and smell what you get. That is where most bad odors come from. Be prepared for a shock.

 

Home breath test kits for halitosis exist. They use a chemical reaction to test a tongue swab. I haven’t read anything confirming the accuracy of the tests.

 

Another problem with halitosis tests is that the odor of your breath changes during the day. You can have good breath at one time and bad breath at another time. And you thought this was going to be easy.

 

It is possible to seek a professional opinion about halitosis. Dentists and commercial breath clinics say they can test and treat bad breath. They will give you one of these four tests.

 

A halimeter is used to test for sulfur emissions in the air of your mouth. The test mainly seeks hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) odors. This test tends to miss other sulfur odors. It also tends to detect old garlic, onion and alcoholic odors after humans no longer can smell them.

 

A gas chromatography machine measures the levels of the three leading VSCs (volatile sulfur compounds) in your mouth air.

 

A BANA (benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide) test checks your levels of three types of bacteria that produce halitosis.

 

A test for Beta-galactosidase measures the level of that enzyme in your saliva.

 

Just to set you at ease, let me tell you that since 1996 ISBOR (The International Society for Breath Odor Research) has been promoting research on breath odors. I’m not making this up. Now you can sleep tonight.