halitosisux

[PR1988]

are you one of the cured ones in the forum am i correct?

[halitosisux]

Hi, yes after a 25 year battle.

[PR1988]

and i saw one of your post about when you do the lick wrist test you get a vinegar like smell is dat normal??

[halitosisux]

Saliva has a slight vinegar smell to it yes. Tongue doesnt smell the way it used to. Only at the very far back, which is normal. You have to understand that a human nose has a certain sensitivity level, below which it cannot detect. Just because you may be aware of concentration of odour somewhere on your tongue, that does not mean that others will detect bad breath when you breathe out. Only when the levels are above a certain threshold will any bad breath become perceptible to others. These levels can be determined by halitometers etc.

Our psychology can play tricks on us though our senses and how the sensory system works as a whole. In the same way that an anorexic will always see themselves as fat, if we think we have BB we will always find ways of convincing ourselves that we do have BB.

[bbsuferer]

hey halitosux how dd u cure ur bb and how can u say u wer totally cured? thanks

[halitosisux]

Hi, good question. The cause was an impacted wisdom tooth. But the reason I know this is because the whole area of gum around this tooth, which was sunken almost halfway into the rear of my mouth, absolutely stunk if I rubbed it with a finger.

Somehow, I didnt notice this until fairly recently. My tongue and my whole mouth used to smell so BAD I just never noticed the source and not a single dentist out of the many I'd been to see even mentioned this tooth might be a cause. But literally from the moment this tooth came out, the whole taste inside my mouth changed, the smell was gone. I've had a trusted relative who has been aware of my BB problem both before and throughout my battle to try to deal with it.

[rey]

read you Pm i have a messae for you

[halitosisux]

rey do you mean me?
I have received 1 message when I signed in, but it wasnt from you. Are you using more than one name?

[bad day]

hi hal.. not sure if you've already answered this before, but did you have white tongue coating and mucus on the throat when you still had bb?

do you think one can eliminate as cause the teeth and gums, if one has the coating and the mucus? tnx

[halitosisux]

Hi bad day, that's a very good question to ask because most people feel they can safely rule out their teeth and gums (as I had done myself for many years) and generally feel their BB has a far more deep seated underlying reason.

For many years I used to brush my tongue with a trimmed down toothbrush (the bristles that is). The coating was thick every morning and even once all the dead cells and debris were removed, my tongue still looked white coated. My understanding is that the tongue has a self-protection mechanism whereby it will try to thicken its natural coating (which is actually made up of dead cells/debris and similar materials to that of the fingernails) and that Scraping/chemicals/brushing etc of the tongue induces this protection mechanism.

So anyway, one day I tried rubbing natural yoghurt into my tongue and it seemed to make a miraculous improvement, but like most improvements, within a few days it wore off. But during this time I didnt perform my usual tongue brushing and I noticed that, overall, my tongue was actually better off by leaving it alone, in terms of coating, my breath and my skanky taste. It certainly didnt warrant the risk of puking up my breakfast from the gagging reflex that's for sure. So that's how I went along for many years. And, while I still had tonsils they were full of stones and stunk like everyone else describes. My right side was worse. (my culprit tooth was also on my right side incidentally)

As far as I know, I never had nasal odours. I always felt safe as long as my mouth was shut, so most of the time (unless I had chewing gum or had just eaten or had a cigarette lit) I'd grunt my words out or just make "um-hum" noises out of my nose.

Back to your question though, I've always had mucus/PND, but its clear and it has never smelled bad. I have allergy to house dust and a deviated nasal septum. Most of the time I have one nostril that is somewhat congested, and its usually the same side. So, as a person who knows what it is to go from having BB to not having BB, I dont think that clear odour-free mucus causes anyone to have BB, but that it may well be an exacerbative BB factor.

Its very difficult to answer your last question. But its a very good question. I dont know whether gum/teeth problems would give rise to a thicker coating or mucus. If I still had my tonsils it would have been fascinating to know whether I'd still be getting tonsils stones and the odour that used to build up inside them. But going by the difference inside my mouth after the extraction of a tooth that was allowing a putrid discharge to constantly leak into my mouth causing my tongue to smell so strongly, I think my tonsils would be normal today if I still had them. I think the reason why tonsils smell is not because tonsils are themselves producing the stones and the odour, but that somewhere else is producing the "shit" that then ends up building up inside the tonsils. I think for most people this shit is coming from their sinuses. For some it will be their gums, for some it will be their esophagus, etc etc. And that's why tonsillectomy is rarely the answer for chronic BB, because it is never dealing with the underlying cause, which I dont think is ever the tonsils, unless there is a clear chronic bacterial infection of the actual tonsil tissues (in other words HUGE swollen painful tonsils)

But also, I'm quite certain that even now if I was to start brushing my tongue and using chemicals on it, like mouthwashes, I'd end up with a thicker tongue coating.

Sorry to rant on, but I cant really answer your questions without discussing everything else as a whole.

[bad day]

Thank you very much for the post. Whether long or short, I always make it a point to go through your postings as I always get something very enlightening after. I actually thought of my question after reading another one of your posts where you wrote something like “why do dentists not ask how long one has had a tooth filling”.

I’ve overlooked my teeth and gums as bb culprit for quite some time now, and focused on a variety of things such as h pylori ( I’ll have a urea breath test in 2 weeks time), yeast overgrowth, pnd reduction, diets, and trying out various concoctions to wash my mouth with or brush my teeth with. I’m really grateful for your post now as it tells me I may be committing a big mistake by ignoring old tooth fillings or possible gum problems. I’ve always thought that my drip and coating are the bb culprit, but your perspective of PND and tongue coating just exacerbating bb and not as main bb cause has given me something to consider. Thanks again hal.

[halitosisux]

Thanks bad day, yw.
On the subject of H Pylori, have you had any other types of test or history with HP?
What kind of problems have you had with your teeth/gums?

[bad day]

Hi Hal.

Regarding H Pylori, I have not had any other test yet, the breath test will be the first one. The gastro specialist kept telling me that I do not have any of the symptoms that point to an HP infection, plus I don't have a history of this infection, nor do my immediate relatives.

I actually have second thoughts on taking the tests since it's a bit expensive for me, but the thought of being able to know definitely whether HP is or is not my bb cause is enough motivation for me to cough up the cash for the test.

As for my teeth and gums, I have two silver fillings in my first and second lower molars that are about 20 yrs old. I don't really feel any problem with it and dentists don't seem to pay too much attention to the fillings (always just a few taps on each filled tooth and "is it painful" questions).

There's also this bad odor on the floss after flossing between my upper second premolar and first molar. The teeth are not aching, although they are a bit sensitive to cold drinks, and the gum bleeds a little with the flossing. Do you think with this current state of these teeth, a severe bb can be caused?

[Archimonde]

There's also this bad odor on the floss after flossing between my upper second premolar and first molar. The teeth are not aching, although they are a bit sensitive to cold drinks, and the gum bleeds a little with the flossing. Do you think with this current state of these teeth, a severe bb can be caused?

I developed that very same problem this weekend (except different tooth, lower right 1st molar) and i'm seeing a dentist in 3 hours. I have no clue if it's related to my BB problem coz i have flossed all my life and there was never a bad smell on the floss.

Saturday morning, i flossed as usual after breakfast and i got this VERY BAD smell between 2 teeth, i did not have to smell the floss, the odor was that strong, i wanted to go see a dentist immediately but it was not possible since it was the weekend. I called 3 clinics this morning and lucked out I was able to get an appointment this afternooon.


edit update: x-rays showed nothing abnormal. He scheduled a deep cleaning in 5 weeks and told me to keep flossing and use Listerine. He didn't see anything wrong with my tooth and he thinks it's just plaque/debris buildup.

[halitosisux]

Hey bad day,
If ur paying for this yourself, it might be worth having a cheaper blood test first. False positive results can occur for example years after a person has had HP or been recently treated, but false negatives are most unlikely to occur and can be relied on as much as any other more expensive test. Even the self-testing kits which work in exactly the same way are reliable when performed correctly. That way, if you do get a positive it would be worthwhile just having the treatment, rather than paying out for further testing. And if you get a negative then you can pretty much conclude with certainty that you do not have HP.

And regarding your teeth, flossing odours are quite normal in areas that just happen to trap debris better than others and the odour is just the consequence of this.

If you rub an area of gum with your finger and it smells bad (compared to the rest of your gums) then that is definitely not normal.

Its always possible that a tooth itself smells bad, but this would be almost impossible to detect for yourself, but I think dentists are able to determine with special sprays that change colour, and various other clever techniques. If you have any doubts about any of your teeth then definitely have them investigated.