Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

anyone know any dietary supplemnets that will make your saliva clean...free from bacteria...i read it somewhere on this site but cant find it

Saliva doesn't contain bacteria. There are at least 100 different species of bacteria that live in your mouth and they will always be there because you can never kill all of them.
Saliva contains at least a dozen chemical ingredients, some of which act as protection against some of the bacteria. Saliva is definitely beneficial in keeping a proper microbial balance in the mouth, however some of the bacteria have evolved means by which they counteract the beneficial effect of the components in the saliva.

Pure saliva is sterile, but once it enters your mouth, obviously its going to end up teeming with bacteria.

Phantasist wrote:however some of the bacteria have evolved means by which they counteract the beneficial effect of the components in the saliva.

Is that a fact or are you guessing this?
If its true, would that apply to everyone or do you mean it only applies to BB sufferers?

It is true for everyone because the bacteria have evolved over millions of years and have therefore adapted.

The information is contained in a paper called "Oral Microbial Ecology and the Role of Salivary Immunoglobulin A".

The article was referenced by Sadman and Murat Aydin in a thread with a similar title a few days ago. You can get it here, but I believe you may already have it. It is NOT easy reading.

http://mmbr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/62/1/71

Yes, I've read this recently, and I agree its not easy reading.

I dont know enough about microbiology and evolution and genetic mutations to grasp what you mean there.

As far as my understanding goes, if bacteria were capable of evolving or mutating in some unfortunate person's mouth to have means by which they can counteract or overcome the beneficial components in saliva that normally prevent bad breath, then wouldnt they eventually do so in every mouth?

Unless of course you mean the bacteria in that person's mouth were always capable and already evolved to be able to do this?

If that were true then wouldnt everyone have BB anyway, because bacteria get passed on from person to person, generation to generation?

Halitosisux,
The way I understand it is that the various bacteria colonize everyone's mouth shortly after birth. Much of it comes from the mother. These resident bacteria stay with us all our lives.
The various protective components in our saliva keep the bacteria in check but do not eliminate them. A relationship seems to have developed between the host (us) and the bacteria.
So why doesn't everyone have bad breath. As you know, I'm not a scientist, but it occurs to me that the volume of the antibody producing components of the saliva may vary from individual to individual because body chemistry is not exactly the same for everybody.
The interactions between SIgA and other various protective substances and the dozens of species of bacteria are highly complex, as I'm sure you realize from reading the article. In the final section, CONCLUSION, the article admits that all of these interactions are not fully understood. I wish I could explain it, but you probably know as much about it as I do.