Patients with bad breath (or Halitosis) often suffer from negative social consequences which can lead to adapted behavior, such as isolation and self-awareness.Bad breath is serious conditions that can have a negative impact on life in more ways than one, which why it is crucial to have this condition investigated. And the best part: treatment is usually possible.

Before we delve into preferring solutions, we, first of all, determine medical and dental factors that are the likely cause of the patient’s bad breath. The degree and type of halitosis is then determined by organoleptic examination, and then the breath is tested with professional diagnostic tools like the Halimeter that objectively analyzes the respiratory gases.

If the examination shows that there are disorders of the throat, nose or ears, allergies, infections of the upper respiratory tract, etc., the patient will be referred to the appropriate physician for further examination.

If oral halitosis has been established, the cause may be the bacterial plaque found in gum inflammation or the bacterial plaque on the tongue back (tongue coating).

If gum disease is present, it must first be examined more extensively before treatment takes place. The treatment almost always consists of teaching the patient to properly remove all bacterial plaque from the teeth and molars by the patient (oral hygiene). If necessary, bacterial plaque in the space between the tooth and gums (pocket) is also removed by the dentist or dental hygienist (professional dental cleaning).

Oral halitosis can also be caused by a thick tongue coating on the back of the tongue. The tongue coating can be significantly reduced by scraping the back of the tongue thoroughly twice a day with a tongue scraper. Also, the tongue is gargled with a special cleansing agent that fights the bacteria on the tongue.

The bacteria found in the tongue coating of patients with mouth odor are also often found in the plaque of patients with gum disease. That is why the treatment of halitosis (tongue scraping and gargling) usually runs parallel to the treatment of gum disease.