What is Halitosis (Bad Breath)?
The ugly smell in the mouth is called halitosis or halitosis for short. It is difficult to define bad breath as a disease. But bad breath can also be a marker of very important diseases. It is possible to divide bad breath into two parts: PATHOLOGICAL and PHYSIOLOGICAL.
1. Physiological Halitosis
When every healthy person wakes up in the morning, bad breath caused by gases accumulated in the digestive tract or bacteria that grow on the back of the tongue may occur. Brushing the back of the tongue and constantly using mouthwashes containing zinc and chewing gum are one solution.
The ugly smell in the breath (not in the mouth) seen after feeding is also physiological. For example, volatile aromatic compounds that pass into the blood of a person who eats garlic are expelled. This odor caused by the excretion of blood gases from the lungs is not a disease. It does not require treatment.
2. Pathological Bad Breath (True Halitosis)
Patients with pathological halitosis may not apply to the dentist with complaints of bad breath. They are either unaware of the ugly smell in their mouths, either tolerate it or accept it.
Cases of Pathological Halitosis are Divided into 3 Categories
Type-1 Detects the odor of the mouth of the patient himself. 24.1% of such patients apply to a physician. They usually accept the smell in their mouths. They apply to the dentist with a different complaint from halitosis. They are treated with the dentist’s warning.
Type-2 Odor is the detection of relatives, not the patient himself. 50% of such patients go to the dentist.
Type-3 Bad breath is not a detection of the patient himself or his relatives, but a suspicion or prediction. Or the patient has faint complaints at intermittent periods. A larger proportion of such patients apply to a dentist.
Causes of Bad Breath
* Especially in infections caused by sinus and lung,
* Diabetes mellitus (it is like the smell of acetone),
* Kidney failure (it smells like fish),
* Liver failure,
* Metabolic disorders (it can be difficult to diagnose, a bad fishy smell that occurs from time to time),
* Hunger, diet, dry mouth, fasting (fat and protein in the body begin to dissolve in liquid food deficiencies, the by-products of this metabolism are reflected as bad breath).
Halitosis Caused by the Oral Cavity
87% of the causes of bad breath are caused by the oral cavity. Of these, 51% get their source from language, 17% from gingivitis, 15% from periodontitis, 17% from a mixture of them. These types of bad breath are not complex cases. The cause will be obvious on the first examination. Problematic gingival tissues can be easily detected with the eye and are easily treated. Sometimes even the patient himself shows the source of the smell.
Treatment of Bad Breath Caused by the Oral Cavity
1- Protect Your Teeth and Gums
Dental caries, gingivitis are one of the important causes of bad breath. Any intra-oral infection always causes bad breath, as it will increase the growth of bacteria. Dental and gum diseases make a significant bad smell. For this reason, you should listen to the recommendations of your dentist and definitely pay attention to dental health and care.
2- Have the Prostheses and Bridges Existing in the Mouth Checked
Outdated bridges and dental prostheses in the mouth can cause bad odors, as they will lead to food accumulation over time. In these cases, you should change what needs to be renewed, and have the necessary treatments for the locations of missing teeth. In the fight against bad breath,teeth and dental health are the first stage
3- Chew Gum
Saliva is the most powerful way to fight bad breath. There are powerful enzymes in it that will dislodge food particles and send them to the stomach, powerful bactericidal antibiotics. For this reason, in some diseases, such as sugar, dry mouths, which occur as a side effect of many drugs, are always smelly. If you’re wondering why your mouth smells bad in the morning, the answer is here; saliva secretion decreases during the night, and food particles in your mouth stay here for a long time. Bacteria also use them with pleasure and rot them. This can make your mouth smell bad in the morning. Chewing sugar-free gum helps to clean your mouth by increasing your saliva secretion. Mints and sweet gummies usually do not work and make the situation worse. However, chewing gum containing xylitol can also help you in this regard.
4- Use Cinnamon
You can use cinnamon in your drinks and suitable foods. Cinnamon is an important weapon in the fight against oral bacteria. Sugar-free gummies with cinnamon, if any, may also be an appropriate recommendation.
5- Drink More Water
Especially the drying of the body, which increases with age, is a condition that needs to be taken into account in many ways. Drinking a lot of water can be used as an important weapon in the fight against bad breath by preventing your tongue from drying out, along with dozens of other benefits. Water is a direct help to keep the bacteria in the mouth to a minimum. It also helps by increasing salivary secretion.
6- Never Sleep with Your Nose Blocked
Airway disorders such as sinusitis and other conditions that cause nasal congestion cause us to breathe through the mouth at night. This condition dries out the mouth and throat, creating an ideal environment for bacteria to reproduce. Decreased salivary secretion makes the situation worse. For this reason, you should definitely not sleep with a stuffy nose.
7- Reduce Your Consumption of Simple Sugars
All ready-made foods sweetened with white flour, white sugar, glucose/fructose syrup are an incredible treasure for bacteria in the mouth. They multiply quickly by using such sugars very easily. Simple sugars (as with all sugary snack foods) cause tooth decay and impair oral health at a great rate. For this reason, you should reduce your consumption of simple sugars. This will help reduce your bad breath, as well as dozens of benefits for you, such as drinking water.
8- Chew the Morsels Well
Thanks to this, the saliva secretion mixes well with food and the probability of a piece of food remaining in the mouth decreases. More chewing movement helps more bacteria to get out of place and go to the stomach.
9- Use Dental Floss
Thanks to dental floss, you can remove bacteria and food residues in places that the brush cannot remove. Especially the food residues accumulated in the narrow areas between the tooth bodies can cause rapid bacterial proliferation. Dec.
10- Do Not Smoke
Smoking causes bad breath, as it causes dry mouth, it causes bad breath. It also prepares the ground for gum disease, which is another cause of bad breath.
Non-Oral Cavity Induced Halitosis
Bad breath is meant to have its source somewhere other than the mouth. The incidence of bad breath caused by non-oral causes is 13%, of which 4% is caused by ear-nose-throat, 3% is caused by both oral and ear-nose-throat, and 1% is caused by the digestive tract. Sometimes intestinal gases cause this.
3. Psychosomatic Halitosis
Although there are complaints in such patients, there is actually no real halitosis (Pseudohalitosis). It is difficult to distinguish such patients from pathological halitosis. For the treatment of such patients, a dentist and a psychiatrist must cooperate. Because some of these patients have a fear of smell, not smell (Halitophobia).