Halimeter test results

[integral]

Went to a hygienist in Toronto today. She tested my breath with a Halimeter and also organoleptically.

1. The Halimeter showed 3 methylmercaptan particles per million. And 7 chloride-something particles per million, as well.
2. She said there is some borderline odour, and I have a choice of treatment.
3. Before the appointment, I had not to eat, brush my teeth or drink for 2 hours. But because the appointment was at 8 am, I hadn't eaten for over 10 hours. So I'm kind of wondering now if that was a hunger odour?
However, I did brush my teeth and clean my tongue before my appointment, drank a little bit of water, but didn't eat.

4. I decided to go with a treatment, and have an appointment for May 5. She will inspect my mouth, gums, etc. I have bleeding gums (when flossing) at my molars. No wisdoms. She will prescribe me some antibiotic rinse to use for 2 weeks and maybe some other suggestions based on the mouth evaluation.

I'm so depressed now that I don't know how to live on now.

Can you guys say in this topic about your Halimeter tests as well?

[Snobuni]

Hi Integral,

I went to a breath clinic about 10 years ago and had a halimeter test and further treatment. I had to do all the same stuff you had to before the test and although I can't remember the exact read-out it was abnormal. After the 'treatment' my readout had gone down and was supposedly then in the 'normal' range. The treatment I received at this clinic, was nothing more than a lecture on oral hygiene and a cleaning from a hygienist. Hopefully your appointment will be more constructive, I'll be interested to hear what kind of treatment is offered to you.

I know how you're feeling at the moment, I'm very depressed too and wonder how much longer I can go on living like this...I had a dental appointment today to check my fillings and any other possible dental causes of this bb (I also had my top wisdom teeth removed recently), but the dentist could find absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth, all my fillings are intact....

Anyway, good luck with your appointment, let me know how it all goes.

[why me?]

Hello Intergel,
Sounds like you have gengivitis if you have bleeding gums. My gums were so sensitive to the touch of a toothe brush and floss that I hated brushing my teeth. For 9 years I had bad breath and didn't know why. When I started going to the dentist, I was informed I had severe perio problems and really deep pockets in my gums. I've been going to see the perio 4 times a year which is pretty drastic. Why way, even after getting deep cleaning from the perio, my bb persisted and I dind't know what the problem was. I was reading through this forum and read about searching using a water pik w/ hydrogen peroxide and brushing with colgate containing triclosan. Since trying this, my bb has improved. The cause of my bb was due to my perio infection in my gums. I really bad gum lines. There are still times when I can smell the bb, but will chew on sugar free gum and it helps. Maybe this will help you if you have severe gingivitis. The water pik cost me around $30 and it was well worth my money. A little messy at first, until you get used to it.

[integral]

Snobuni, well she did explain the nature of the treatment to me. First of all, she said that my problem isn't too big (especially that I hadn't eaten anything for so many hours and so on - something called morning breath you know), and the halimeter showed "just" the borderline. But the nature of the treatment is that she does a mouth inspection (teeth, gums, etc), prescribes an antibiotic rinse for 2 weeks, then tests again, then there's some special mouthwash for a month. The goal is to heal my gums and restore balance of good and bad bacteria. I think I have some gum pockets around my molars. So I will consider gum surgery or even molar extraction. Though I would first have to know how to chew without molars. Maybe insert some implants instead if that'd help. But probably that's something that wouldn't be needed. Maybe the antibiotic mouthwash will be able to heal my molar gums.

[integral]

why me?, no I don't have gengivitis, which has been confirmed by the hygienist whom I saw this month. I don't usually get bleeding from my gums while brushing my teeth, but do get it when flossing, and only when flossing my top molars (don't have wisdoms at all due to lack of space for them in my mouth).

Actually my molars started to grow only when I was about 18 or something. One of my molars hasn't yet grown completely or something like that.

So, again, to the gum problem - it does exist around my molars, especially the top ones, and the floss does stink noticeably when I floss there.

[Snobuni]

Hi Integral,

You say your molars haven't grown out of your gum properly and that it smells when you floss around that area? Is the gum covering the tooth at all? Have you read Halitosisuxes posts about his wisdom tooth? His gum was covering some of the tooth and it smelled bad, he had the tooth extracted and his bb went away.

[integral]

Hi Snobuni,

You say your molars haven't grown out of your gum properly and that it smells when you floss around that area?

Looks like only one molar hasn't erupted completely. But, generally, all four stink on the floss. Gums seem to be covering the teeth completely. It's the question of the depth of the pockets, I believe.

Have you read Halitosisuxes posts about his wisdom tooth? His gum was covering some of the tooth and it smelled bad, he had the tooth extracted and his bb went away.

Well the interesting thing is that my breath doesn't stink if I've eaten, and many many people have the so called morning breath, so it's considered normal, as far as I know. So the Halimeter test must have shown my hunger odour... I'll ask the hygyenist about that, because per their conditions I had not to eat for 2 hours, and I interpreted it as "for at least 2 hours". Then I read in their booklet that actually eating for over 2 hours may cause "hunger odour"...

Yes, I could extract my molars, but what am I going to chew with? Maybe there's a better solution, let's see...

[bpatient]

hey, Integral

I live in Toronto too, and I wonder which hygienist you went to? and if the expense is covered by OHIP?

Your infor is a great help, please keep us posted about your treatment.

[integral]

Hi bpatient,

I went to Urban Dental Centre in Mississauga, where I'm presently staying in a hotel waiting for my furniture to arrive from Halifax where I have moved from.

The hygienist didn't like the shape of my brand new filling for some reason, that's one thing. Next, she said that if I've had my old fillings for 10 years then they should be replaced. Why? The hygienist in Halifax had said that fillings don't need to be replaced even in 25 years, unless there's something wrong with them. That's what I didn't like in her, something like in her attitude probably. But I don't know. I will ask her why she said so about my fillings. I was embarrassed talking with her because I knew I had some bb at that time (hadn't eaten).

No, not covered by OHIP apparently, but should be covered by private insurance, at least partially.

I started asking other people whom I've talked with before if they smelled any bb, and they said no. So maybe really it was a hunger odour? And she didn`t say how bad it was, she said that it`s not something too bad, not something that she'd definitely say needs treatment. But that I have a choice. Well, I know there's something wrong with my molar gums, and I do believe they should be taken care of.

I'm still wondering if there are people here who did any real tests of their breath?

[NYConfused]

hi integral. the halimeter test i took gave a number as a result (from 0 up to like a thousand or something).. was this a different halimeter? also i was told not to brush at all (and not eat for a period), but it sounds like u were able to brush as long as u didnt within 2 hrs of the test?

and you mention that ur results were borderline and you may just have hunger breath... so you are unsure if u have bad breath at all is that correct?

[integral]

the halimeter test i took gave a number as a result (from 0 up to like a thousand or something).. was this a different halimeter?

Yes, it is a number. Halimeter measures for presence 3 types of gases. Like I said, it had detected 2 types of 3 in me, 3 particles per million for methylmercaptan (the smelliest gas), and 7 particles per million of chrlorid-something, or hydro-something, don't remember that one... So these are the numbers.

also i was told not to brush at all (and not eat for a period), but it sounds like u were able to brush as long as u didnt within 2 hrs of the test?

If I hadn't brushed or cleaned my tongue, the results would have been worse. But it didn't make sense to me, because I asked many people around and most of them said that yes, they and their partners do have stale breath / taste when they wake up.

and you mention that ur results were borderline and you may just have hunger breath... so you are unsure if u have bad breath at all is that correct?

As I understand, she was able to detect some bad breath organoleptically when asked me to deeply inhale and then exhale. But I don't know if she could smell anything otherwise. I have also asked people around and no one said I had any bb when talking with them.

I might be exaggerating the problem heavily, but I want to deal with it, and destroy this problem. Even morning breath, that's it. Maybe I'm a perfectionist or anything, but I hate any potentiality of a bad smell coming from my mouth, so I will do everything do destroy such potentiality, whatever it costs.

[NYConfused]

the halimeter test i took gave a number as a result (from 0 up to like a thousand or something).. was this a different halimeter?

Yes, it is a number. Halimeter measures for presence 3 types of gases. Like I said, it had detected 2 types of 3 in me, 3 particles per million for methylmercaptan (the smelliest gas), and 7 particles per million of chrlorid-something, or hydro-something, don't remember that one... So these are the numbers.

also i was told not to brush at all (and not eat for a period), but it sounds like u were able to brush as long as u didnt within 2 hrs of the test?

If I hadn't brushed or cleaned my tongue, the results would have been worse. But it didn't make sense to me, because I asked many people around and most of them said that yes, they and their partners do have stale breath / taste when they wake up.

and you mention that ur results were borderline and you may just have hunger breath... so you are unsure if u have bad breath at all is that correct?

As I understand, she was able to detect some bad breath organoleptically when asked me to deeply inhale and then exhale. But I don't know if she could smell anything otherwise. I have also asked people around and no one said I had any bb when talking with them.

I might be exaggerating the problem heavily, but I want to deal with it, and destroy this problem. Even morning breath, that's it. Maybe I'm a perfectionist or anything, but I hate any potentiality of a bad smell coming from my mouth, so I will do everything do destroy such potentiality, whatever it costs.

hmm, well the test i took gave me a single number result from zero on up ( for instance someone might score a 50, or someone might score a 300, or 400 and so on). i see your problem doesnt sound as serious as some others on here (if it exists at all), though theres nothing wrong with that and i understand your concern.

[integral]

This problem is big enough for me to cause huge inconvenience and spoil my life.

[Archimonde]

Hunger breath takes way more than 5 hours, it's like 12+ hours at the very least.

well the test i took gave me a single number result from zero on up

why won't you tell us what was your score?

I'd like to hear the score of everyone who took the test.

[integral]

Hunger breath takes way more than 5 hours, it's like 12+ hours at the very least.

I said it was at least 10 hours.

I'd like to hear the score of everyone who took the test.

Me too. Looks like only a few people have really taken this test. I don't quite understand why.