Can the lick test fail?

[johnbb]

off late I stopped coming to this place. I did not have any updates for a long long time...
Very recently, I found out that I have silent reflux. I drastically changed my diet which did few good things to me.
Previously, I used to smell own breath. I can sense my own stink when I blew in to cupped hands. I was also able to feel it, if I blew some air in to my nose directly from the mouth (needs some practice). Of course, most of my colleagues would not talk to me with out blocking (literally) their mouth and nose with their hand. Lick test (lick the wrist and smell it after few secs) would give pungent vinegar smell.

After diet change, the vinegar smell after lick test almost disappeared. I tried cotton swab test which also smells like nothing. In both these tests, I tried to reach very back of my tongue (where the white glue is present). Now I get fewer and weaker responses. For example, people rub their noses, try to put fingers around their nose, check their breath etc. But When I closely observed people, they responded in a similar fashion whenever they talk to people.

I am now totally confused...One thing is for sure..I developed strong fear of talking to people face to face...

Now, I would like to know whether the lick test fails (also cotton swab test- in both cases I sampled from very back of my tongue)? Is there a better way to check my own breath? (asking others is ruled out for obvious reasons)

[Corpsebreath]

You are the definition of halitophobia

[johnbb]

Why not many people are interested to answer my question? Are there any people in this forum who pass lick test and still have bad breath.

[halitosisux]

This is a huge question. The subject has been discussed many times on here. There's a lot of contradiction and confusion because bad breath is caused by different reasons. So these kinds of smells you're detecting might mean bad breath for one person, and nothing for another person. It depends on what chemicals are present.

Pungent smelling chemicals have their own unique characteristics regarding volatility etc. So a pungent smell on the end of your finger after it's been rubbed on the back of your tongue won't always mean that your tongue is wafting odour that is detectable as bad breath to others. And likewise, your tongue could be wafting foul odours, even though you were only able to detect slight odour on your finger after it's been rubbed there.

[somethinstinks]

Just FYI, I don't smell much of anything when I do the lick test these days. I don't think its a good indicator of halitosis.