Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Don't scare me. The funny thing is my tongue is whiter than ever. Yet no smell.

This kinda proves what I have been recently saying to Phantasist, in that white tongues are a separate thing. The most probable reason why your tongue is whiter at the moment is because the antibiotics have reduced and disrupted the bacteria on your tongue, resulting in a temporary increase in the natural fungal presence on your tongue. There is nothing to worry about because once the metronidazole leaves your system, your oral bacteria will re-populate and the natural balance will resume. Same thing happens in the gut. Probably the same thing happens when you use antibacterial mouthwashes and scrapers.

If the odour/breath improvement is indeed due to the effects on your oral bacteria, then its down to the fact that metronidazole gets secreted in your saliva, otherwise it would probably do nothing - Unless it's due to another possibility and effect it might be having in your gut. The longer the improvement last, the more likely it's because its affecting some part of your body other than your oral bacteria, such as your gut or perhaps a chronic infection somewhere else like your sinuses.

Just some ideas to think about.

So of the guys who permanently got cured from Metronizadole (keep spelling it wrong) got the antibitotic secreted into their saliva permanently?

No, not secreted permanently - if only it would. I'm just giving you my thoughts on what I believe is happening in your case if that might help you to solve this. Small clues might help you to pinpoint the cause.

@gordongekko

with all due respect, gordongekko, if all these people told you you didn't have a breath problem, why wouldn't you believe them?

i could be wrong, but it kind of sounds like you've just been overly-sensitive about your breath! is that possible?

We have an inconsistency here. Gordongekko says that the bad breath is eliminated, but the white coating on the tongue is worse than ever. We know that Metronidazole targets anaerobic bacteria, but assuming that it is secreted in his saliva, can it penetrate through the coating and get at the bacteria on the tongue without disturbing the coating?

It may only require a tiny concentration of metronidazole to reach the anaerobic bacteria to have it's desired effect. And there is no doubt that the metronidazole will eventually soak through the coating into the papillae of the tongue.

But quite simply, wherever anaerobic bacteria are able to find places where there is no replenishing flow of saliva, as often occurs between teeth or beneath a thick layer of tongue coating, or even inside tonsil crypts, then this is where the buildup of odours due to anaerobic bacterial activity will occur.