Common Questions about Halitosis

What is halitosis?

Chronic halitosis is a condition in which a person produces an offensive odor from their oral or nasal regions and they're unable to eliminate it through normal oral hygiene techniques, such as flossing or brushing. The occasional "morning breath" most people experience at one time or another is not really true halitosis. Halitosis knows no boundaries when it comes to age, sex, race, or socioeconomic levels. Furthermore, it can be truly demoralizing, and it negatively impacts the lives of as many as 50-80 million individuals in the United States alone. Because it's such an embarrassing problem we have found that many patients are reluctant to even mention their problem to either their physician or dentist.

Another unfortunate fact is that most halitosis sufferers have no idea that they have a breath problem unless somebody directly informs them. People suffering from halitosis have been known to become withdrawn and avoid social situations. There unfortunately have even been documented cases of suicide stemming from a halitosis problem.

Bad breath treatment in our clinic, Treatment of chronic bad breath, Treatment of chronic halitosis

At the Center for Breath Treatment we have found that about 90% of breath problems are caused from a proliferation of specific types of gram (-) anaerobic bacteria in the mouth. This has also been supported by extensive research in the field of halitosis. This proliferation is often a result of conditions such as allergies, sinus congestion or post-nasal drips, nasal polyps, and xerostomia which is a dry mouth condition. A common area where the bacteria congregates can actually be on the tongue itself. Because we rarely find bad breath resulting from a medical condition, we suggest that the first approach in eliminating bad breath should be an oral approach. This approach is more economical, noninvasive, and it has a much higher probability of success. We do recommend that all patients maintain their dental health by seeing their dentist regularly. Should a chronic halitosis condition persist, despite the noninvasive oral treatments that we offer, then we suggest that those patients should see their physician. It is very rare to see this occur, and the differential diagnosis we perform at the first appointment, will quickly determine whether a chronic bad breath problem is of a medical or dental origin. Very rarely is a chronic halitosis condition a result of insufficient oral hygiene.

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