Cured by removing wisdom teeth
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:04 pm
I have had bad breath for a about 15 years (it started around when I was 19 and I'm now 34), the kind that people seem to be calling "fecal breath" on this site. Where, if I sneeze, I could smell the rotten odor at the back of my tongue lingering in the air for almost a minute. The kind that would make people cover their noses when I talk, even if they were several meters away from me in an air-conditioned room.
Here were some other quirks of my breath: (1) Brushing my teeth with normal toothpaste actually made it worse (2) Drinking red wine or beer made it worse (but not hard stuff like whiskey or brandy).
I learned after a while that the only thing that did marginally improve my breath was salt water gargles. I discovered this because I tested my breath by swiping a finger over the back of my tongue, let it air dry for a few seconds, then take a sniff. And it nearly always STANK! Except when I gargled and brushed my teeth with salt water. But it came back no matter what.
And now I am cured.
Here's the first step I took that partially cured me: I originally thought my bad breath came from the dental bridge I had over my upper incisors was the culprit since I had them installed ten years ago, the same time my breath problems began. I decided to remove them and have implants installed and so I decided to visit an implant specialist/periodontist. Luckily, I visited a very honest and competent one and she recommended that I instead give my gums a deep cleaning since that's more likely the culprit. So I got a deep cleaning from the same doctor and it definitely improved my breath for a few months. But it did not completely cure me since the weakened smell became stronger as time went by. Anyway, if you're having breath problems, try having your gums cleaned as a first step. It might work depending on your condition.
And here's how I got completely cured (I'm nearly certain). I visited a second general dentist because my periodontist recommended I get a second opinion from a generalist. He said my gums are partly to blame but he said that he had more suspicions about my partially impacted wisdom teeth. He recommended that I have them removed, so I set up an appointment with an oral surgeon and had them removed a few months after my deep gum cleaning.
I had my wisdom teeth removed two days ago. All three wisdom teeth were partially impacted, two were on the bottom and one was on the upper left. I had all three removed. Because of the dentists recommendations, I haven't been able to brush my teeth since the surgery. All I've been able to do is salt water gargles. And as far as I can tell, there is no odor in my mouth. I've swiped my fingers over the back of my tongue, let it dry for a while, then smelled it and there is nothing.
Maybe I'm popping the champagne bottle a little to early, but judging by the very informed, amazing post here (viewtopic.php?t=1358), and my first two days post-surgery, I feel confident that my breath problems have been cured at the root. I'll later update this post once a few weeks have past and I've been able to actually talk to people and see how they react to me.
Here were some other quirks of my breath: (1) Brushing my teeth with normal toothpaste actually made it worse (2) Drinking red wine or beer made it worse (but not hard stuff like whiskey or brandy).
I learned after a while that the only thing that did marginally improve my breath was salt water gargles. I discovered this because I tested my breath by swiping a finger over the back of my tongue, let it air dry for a few seconds, then take a sniff. And it nearly always STANK! Except when I gargled and brushed my teeth with salt water. But it came back no matter what.
And now I am cured.
Here's the first step I took that partially cured me: I originally thought my bad breath came from the dental bridge I had over my upper incisors was the culprit since I had them installed ten years ago, the same time my breath problems began. I decided to remove them and have implants installed and so I decided to visit an implant specialist/periodontist. Luckily, I visited a very honest and competent one and she recommended that I instead give my gums a deep cleaning since that's more likely the culprit. So I got a deep cleaning from the same doctor and it definitely improved my breath for a few months. But it did not completely cure me since the weakened smell became stronger as time went by. Anyway, if you're having breath problems, try having your gums cleaned as a first step. It might work depending on your condition.
And here's how I got completely cured (I'm nearly certain). I visited a second general dentist because my periodontist recommended I get a second opinion from a generalist. He said my gums are partly to blame but he said that he had more suspicions about my partially impacted wisdom teeth. He recommended that I have them removed, so I set up an appointment with an oral surgeon and had them removed a few months after my deep gum cleaning.
I had my wisdom teeth removed two days ago. All three wisdom teeth were partially impacted, two were on the bottom and one was on the upper left. I had all three removed. Because of the dentists recommendations, I haven't been able to brush my teeth since the surgery. All I've been able to do is salt water gargles. And as far as I can tell, there is no odor in my mouth. I've swiped my fingers over the back of my tongue, let it dry for a while, then smelled it and there is nothing.
Maybe I'm popping the champagne bottle a little to early, but judging by the very informed, amazing post here (viewtopic.php?t=1358), and my first two days post-surgery, I feel confident that my breath problems have been cured at the root. I'll later update this post once a few weeks have past and I've been able to actually talk to people and see how they react to me.