![\"Halitosis\"](\"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/halitosis.jpg\")
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Dr Andrew Doig was recently featured in an article for For Life magazine discussing various myths regarding bad breath (https:\/\/www.forlifemag.com\/top-7-bad-breath-myths-debunked\/<\/a>). In this blogpost, we wanted to revisit these myths, and to further explore the impact of bad breath.<\/p>\n Only a fraction of halitosis stems from the stomach. When it does, the association is usually indirect. In 90% of cases, halitosis is caused by anaerobic bacteria breaking down food in the mouth, where they create smelly volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs).<\/p>\n These compounds can lodge in the tongue and gums, resulting in bad breath through:<\/p>\n Halitosis may be a reflection of underlying conditions in approximately 10-20% of cases. The type of health issues include:<\/p>\n Less than 0.5% of halitosis is associated with stomach disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or H.pylori<\/em> infection.<\/p>\n Most people can\u2019t tell they have bad breath as they\u2019ve probably adapted to such odours over time. Plus, our noses and mouths communicate through an opening at the back of the mouth, making smelling our own breath difficult. In pandemic times however, people have become more aware of their breath when wearing masks, as dried oral moisture droplets leave an odour on the insides of masks.<\/p>\n To confirm the presence of bad breath, I recommend:<\/p>\n Comparing the smell of the mouth breath versus your nose breath can give a clue as to whether the cause of your halitosis is oral or extra-oral. Nose breath smells are a reflection of compounds in the bloodstream which are released through the lungs, and may be a sign of underlying disease. Mouth breath smells are usually a reflection of intraoral causes.<\/p>\n The quality of the smell is also useful in helping to identify specific causes of bad breath. For example, a patient who is on a protein-based diet may have “Keto breath”, which takes on a very strong fruity smell. The breakdown of proteins in their diet causes acetone to be released into the person’s bloodstream, which then is released through their urine and breath. This same compound is responsible for the acetone-like breath in diabetics, due to the high levels of ketones in the bloodstream.<\/p>\n The type of bad breath these foods cause is transient and tends to go away after a few hours.<\/p>\n Some foods such as spices, garlic and durian are broken down and absorbed into the blood stream. They are then released into our surrounding air as we breath through our noses. Other examples of transient halitosis is morning breath due to reduced saliva flow when we\u2019re sleeping, and after consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes.<\/p>\n Bad breath that is caused by foods can usually be masked with breath mints (sugar-free of course), and more frequent toothbrushing and mouth rinsing. Avoiding particular foods before important meetings or social engagements would be a simple and effective strategy to avoid transient halitosis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Tongue coating is considered the most important contributor to halitosis levels (Wu et al. 2019), but brushing and scraping the tongue ALONE will not be enough to keep bad breath away. However, in conjunction with other measures such as efficient toothbrushing at least twice a day, use of floss and interdental brushes, as well as staying hydrated by drinking <\/p>\n Here are a few products for controlling halitosis:<\/p>\n Anti-bacterial action:<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients that affect Volatile Sulphur Compound (VSC) formation<\/em><\/p>\n Care should be taken when using mouthwashes with Chlorhexidine as side effects include reversible staining of the teeth and mucosal surfaces, as well as altered sensation of taste. Please do take advice from the prescribing dentist regarding the directions for use.<\/p>\n Mouthwashes, mints and chewing gums are not able to eliminate halitosis permanently, but are able to freshen our breathes for a certain period of time. As long as the cause for the halitosis is not eliminated and poor dental cleaning habits still exist, the source for production of VSCs is still present.<\/p>\n The types of dental treatment that contribute to permanently eliminating halitosis include:<\/p>\n This is definitely not true. Since 90% of halitosis is caused by poor oral hygiene, diligent home care alone should be sufficient in controlling bad breath. If halitosis persists, you should speak to your dentists about:<\/p>\n This article was written by Dr Andrew Doig for Skye Dental. We thank For Life Magazine for including Dr Andrew in their article entitled, “Top 7 Bad Breath Myths Debunked”.<\/em> Dr Andrew Doig was recently featured in an article for For Life magazine discussing various myths regarding bad breath (https:\/\/www.forlifemag.com\/top-7-bad-breath-myths-debunked\/). In this blogpost, we wanted to revisit these myths, and to further explore the impact of bad breath. Myth 1: Halitosis comes from the stomach Only a fraction of halitosis stems from the stomach. When … Continue reading Halitosis: 7 Myths Debunked!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Myth 1: Halitosis comes from the stomach<\/div>\n\n
Myth 2: Halitosis is caused by underlying conditions<\/div>\n\n
Myth 3: It\u2019s easy to tell if your own breath stinks<\/div>\n\n
Myth 4: Bad breath is caused by eating pungent foods<\/div>\n\n\n![\"Pungent](\"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/pungent-foods.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\nMyth 5: Brushing and scraping the tongue alone can keep bad breath away<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n![\"Tongue](\"https:\/\/www.skyedental.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/tongue-scrapers.jpg\")
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Myth 6: Mouthwashes, mints and gums can eliminate halitosis permanently<\/div>\n\n
\n-To make sure there may not be any underlying possible extraoral cause for the halitosis
\n-To check medications and possible side effects these can create such as dry mouth<\/li>\nMyth 7: There is no cure for halitosis<\/div>\n\n
https:\/\/www.forlifemag.com\/top-7-bad-breath-myths-debunked\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"