g and help if you suspect or know you have bad breath. The dentist will review your dental and medical history, including medications you might be taking that could cause dry mouth.
The dentist will also thoroughly examine your teeth, gums, salivary glands and the mouth condition. You’ll also be evaluated for bad breath by exhaling from your nose and mouth.
If the dentist suspects a medical issue, you’ll be referred to your family doctor – or, in some cases of gum disease – you’ll be referred to a periodontist who specializes in gum diseases.
If you see your family doctor for halitosis, he’ll likely perform tests if he suspects kidney, lung or liver disease. This may include urine or blood tests, X-rays of the sinus or chest areas and other types of testing.
When all possible medical and dental issues have been checked and ruled out, more specialized and in-depth testing is required. Specialized help is readily available in hundreds of dental offices and breath clinics which use a myriad of laboratory methods.
Science has proven that it’s difficult, if not impossible to test one’s own breath, but most are able to detect it in others. You may have a certain taste in your mouth that’s metallic or sour and suspect bad breath, but that’s usually a poor indicator for testing.Self-diagnosis may be possible by licking the back of the wrist, letting the saliva dry for a couple of minutes and then sniffing the results, but that’s not always a reliable method.
One better method would be to scrape the back of the tongue lightly with a plastic spoon and then smell the results after it dries. Swabs are now available in pharmacies which test for combinations of polyamines and sulfur, but the results may not be totally reliable.
When you’re tested by a dental office or commercial breath clinic, other testing methods are available. The halimeter is a portable monitor which tests for sulfur emissions from the mouth.
This test may not always be reliable because some food and drink can cause false readings on the device. A BANA test involves the salivary glands and tests the levels of an enzyme which indicates odor-causing bacteria.
The enzyme, galactosidase, can be tested for salivary levels and is associated with halitosis. Breath clinics use these devices, but the actual gold standard of knowing if you have halitosis is by trained experts in “organoleptic measurements” who use the sniff and score method to rate the type and level of odor involved. They commonly use an intensity scale up to six points.
What You Can Do to Prevent Bad Breath
Causes of halitosis aren’t well understood by the medical community, so you may have difficulty finding effective treatment. Some strategies on your part may be used to prevent bad breath most commonly originating from the mouth.
Cleaning the surface of the tongue twice a day can help eliminate odor-inducing bacteria and can be accomplished by using several proven strategies such as cleaning the tongue’s surface using a toothbrush or tongue scraper to eliminate the debris, bacteria and mucus.
Use some antibacterial mouthwash or tongue gel to cleanse even more efficiently and thoroughly. Chewing gum helps get rid of dry mouth which is one cause of bacteria build-up and bad breath.
Chew sugarless gum to produce more saliva and when you can’t use oral hygiene methods to clean your teeth and mouth after you eat. Some gums may also contain odor-killing ingredients such as mint.
Gargling with an effective mouthwash just before bedtime can help reduce mouth odors for hours. Some mouthwashes contain ingredients that are de-activated by the ingredients in toothpaste, so it’s best not to rinse your mouth with mouthwash just after brushing.
Consuming a healthy breakfast such as oatmeal each morning helps cleanse the back of the tongue. Try some old folk remedies such as chewing on cinnamon sticks, fresh parsley, fennel seeds and mastic gum to get rid of leftover food odors.
The probiotic treatment, Streptococcus salivarius K12, is said to prevent odorous bacterial growth in the mouth, but it hasn’t been scientifi