Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Hi everyone -

Before I get started, I wanted to thank you all for your posts on this board. I've learned lots and I'm hopeful that I'll one day find my solution. Here's my story:

Overview: I'm a 30 year male and I've had BB for most of my life. I have seasonal allergies, a deviated septum, PND, I'm allergic to dairy and I have a thick white coating on my tongue. I'm in shape, I eat well and I have excellent oral hygiene. I've had two cavities filled with composite resin. My wisdom teeth were removed 15 years ago. I have (most of) my tonsils.

Root causes and solutions thus far:
Tonsil Stones: I discovered them by looking at my tonsils in the mirror, and by using a lighted no-fog dental mirror. I rubbed my tonsils with a Q-tip and the smell was horrible. Solution: laser tonsil ablation by an ENT to open up my tonsil pockets - but I still get the occasional stone. I clean my tonsils daily with a monoject syringe. It's much easier than before the ablation because the pockets are much more open now. I would have had my tonsils removed if I could take the time off of work. I recommend full removal to eliminate tonsils as a root cause.

Bacteria behind molar: I flossed each tooth and found smelly bacteria behind my back right molar. Food was collecting there because I wasn't initially flossing BEHIND my molars. I now floss behind each molar and I scrape away food particles behind my molars and under my gums using a gum stimulator daily.

Tongue coating: I have a thick, white, smelly coating on my tongue. Like all of you, I've tried several mouthwashes, peroxide, baking soda, etc but the coating and smell always comes back. I use the tongue brush and Dr. Tungs scraper 3x daily to try to remove as much of the bacteria as I can. I use a natural tea tree oil mouthwash...I'm staying away from the 'fresh breath' mouthwashes because they didn't help..and they possibly made my breath worse.

Dr.'s I've seen:

Dentists (several): Full mouth x-rays didn't show any problems; no issues aside from the coated tongue.

ENT (4): With the goal of getting several tests, I went to 4 ENT's and presented different symptoms. I got my CT scan by presenting sinusitis. CT showed clear sinuses, and the deviated septum that I was aware of. Endoscopy (via nose) by presenting reflux and trouble breathing out of one side of my nose (deviated septum). Endoscopy revealed a reddish throat - the ENT said I had silent reflux and/or GERD. I was prescribed Dexilant for the reflux. I told one ENT that I was visiting for bad breath. He did not perform any tests aside from looking in my mouth and in my nose. He told me to brush my tongue and see a dentist. I did not tell any of the other doctors that I was visiting because of bad breath.

GI: I presented reflux and stomach pain. The Dr ordered an upper endoscopy. All tests were negative including h. pylori via biopsy. He saw slight signs of GERD and he put me on Dexilant. I've been on it for 4 weeks and I have not noticed a difference in my breath or coating on my tongue. I raised the head of my bed off the ground by 5 inches to reduce any reflux at night.

So...I'm not quite sure where to go from here. Any suggestions?

I'm open to taking fluconazole, but I'd rather stay away from metronidazole because of its limited success on this board, and because of my negative test for h. pylori. To those of you that have taken to above medications, did you simply ask your Dr. for them and state that it was to cure/reduce BB?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Do you use nasal wash/rinse/neti pot?

When you had your CT scan, did you check the radiologist's report? Based from my experience, the radiologist reported that I have mucus forming on both my maxillary sinuses. But my ENT said those mucus can be ignored. viewtopic.php?t=3356

Hi username,

i have only just seen your post, looking at the date of the post hope u are still about?

a few suggestions that i think may benefit you

try Oil pulling (old Ayurveda process) it can take a significant amount of time in giving you the desired results, basically on an empty stomach you take one tablespoon of oil in the mouth but do not swallow it. Move Oil Slowly in the mouth as rinsing or swishing, sip, suck and pull through the teeth' for fifteen to twenty minutes. This process makes oil thoroughly mixed with saliva. Swishing activates the enzymes and the enzymes draw toxins out of the blood, i believe it may also attract or pull bacteria out from the gums, the oil must not be swallowed, so spit it out!

everyone uses a different oil, i flick between the 3 oils, sesame oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil and i use only unrefined organic versions

gargle with bicarbonate of soda (thats the uk name) for at least 5 - 10mins this may loosen tonsil stones, talking about tonsil stones grapefruit seed extract is ment to be good for this condition.

rinse gargle and swish through the teeth with warm sea salt 3 times a day.

i understand you floss but tie 1 or 2 knots (to make one big knot depending on your teeth gap sizes) and gently persuade through and inbetween the bottom of the back molars this can sometimes remove bits of stubborn stuff

get a dentist deep gum clean, use a rotary type electric toothbrush sprinkle a little fine sea salt on it, find a toothpaste without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (sls)

i use cordysl the red coloured original flavour (contains the active ingredient chlorhexidine, which is an antiseptic and disinfectant agent)

eating less meat can make the breath fresher - 6 months ago i changed to a vegetarian diet (am 40 year old male) because of this.

i raised my bed a whopping 8 inches - looks like a space cadet bed

increase your water intake, water after a meal and thoroughly swish a few times with it, this removes any bits of food for bacteria to feed on, basically remove bacteria's food source

flush your sinuses - some people use a neti pot, i prefer and use a neil med stand up squeezy bottle from www.amazon.co.uk

hope something helps.

Regards Vinnie