halitosisux

[bad day]

Hi Hal.

Once again, very helpful insights from you, appreaciate it a lot. I will be postponing or maybe cancel entirely the breath test. My first option now is to find the self-test kit you mentioned, and just spend my money on the meds, in case the test turns out positive.

Regarding the teeth, I think I'll be paying a visit to the dentist again. Focus on specific teeth, and not the entire mouth. Perhaps ask for an x-ray like what Archimonde just did.

Also thanks for the "rub gum areas with finger" test. I haven't done this before; I tried earlier and got a big surprise - there is bad odor after touching the gum area of my lower last tooth. I'll let the dentist have a look also.

Thanks again!

[Archimonde]

I was supposed to see another dentist today but they don't take the insurance that i have so i'm on my own for now. Anyway, upon further flossing, i've discovered that the smell is actually between teeth #29-30 and teeth #30-31, not at the base of tooth #30 (periodental pocket) like i first thought. I've seen on the internet "interdental brushes" which is what i need, i'm about to go to drugstores and see if i can find those brushes, if not, maybe i'll buy a waterpik but i'm not sure if they're designed to reach inter-dental spaces. I'm still dumbfounded as to why i can smell that odor now and not before.

[halitosisux]

YW bad day.

[Archimonde]

@ bad day

I bought "Go-betweens cleaners" http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/0 ... x450_a.jpg

I was able to remove some gunk that i could see with my own eyes on the brush and lessen the smell. Unbelievable. Flossing is useless when it comes to removing crap that's been there for a while, i flossed relentlessly 20+ times and i never saw anything on the floss, 1 use of the cleaner brush did more than flossing 20+ times. Despite much scrubbing, my tooth is still smelly on both sides (at the impact points, where the Go-betweens cleaner can't reach), i'm not sure if i can clean it 100% by myself, i'm trying.

[halitosisux]

Archi, my teeth are so bunched up together, I cant get those things between any of mine. The ones I've tried have quite a thick piece of what looks like copper wire down the centre and even that is too thick for my teeth.

Maybe a water pik will work well together with those brushes. The deep cleaning is going to be really important when you get around to having it done.

[Archimonde]

I'm gonna try to find another dentist who can do the deep cleaning sooner. Will try a water pik in the meantime.

[bad day]

Hi Archi.

Thanks for the tip. I have used that brush before and it was effective. I did see the gunk you mentioned being collected by the brush. But during one of my visits to a dentist, he noticed that the gum line between the teeth that I use the interdental brush on, has somewhat receded. I told the dentist I was using that brush on them and he advised me not to for my case, since my teeth are too narrowly spaced. It has created a pocket between the teeth where he said bacteria could build up.

I have since stopped using the brush. I actually bought a water pik product just mentioned by hal. When I first used the water pik, I tried flossing first before the pik. After flossing, I used the pik and I still saw gunk or bits being flushed out by the pik. Quite effective, can flush out those not caught by a floss.

[Archimonde]

Bad day,

The brush did some damage to my gum, like you said, it's probably best to not use it. Do you know if dentists have special equipment to clean smelly contact points between 2 teeth?

So i take it even after using water pik, your two inter-dental spaces are still smelly? Do you think it's the cause of your chronic BB?

[bad day]

Hi Archi,

When I go for cleaning, I usually see this high-speed air-driven instrument that pumps out water being used by the dentist to clean the in-betweens of the teeth. It seems the water pik is a portable version of this. But there could be another special instrument to clean gums with severe conditions, I'm not really sure.

Regarding the dental space, it's not often that I get the bad odor after using the water pik; plus I usually spend more time using the pik on that area to make sure it's clean. When there are times that I'm not ale to use the pik (like when I forget to recharge it), and I just floss, and then a few hours later I floss again, that is when I notice the bad odor. Personally I don't think that is the cause of my bb; as I remember having the occasional bad odor on the floss even before I had the chronic bb. In your case, maybe you can try the test hal mentioned - try to rub your finger on your gums and if a bad odor sticks to your finger after touching an area, then perhaps there's something abnormal with that area.

Anyway if aside from that smelly area, and you don't have any other suspects right now that causes your bb (like pnd, yeast overgrowth, or h pylori), then I think you just visit a dentist and ask him to focus on that particular area.