My story, and what I did to cure my breath

[badbreath0202]

Intro

I'm 18 and male from the UK. I first found out I that I had BB when I was 12 or 13 when my friend told me my breath stank. That is after I had just put a fresh peice of chewing gum in my mouth. At the time I didn't think much of it, as I had braces and just reckoned that it was because I was unable to properly clean my mouth.

By 13 or 14 I had my braces removed, and through a little googling I found out (with the lick test) that my breath stunk like rotting fish. I then started to feel lumps in my throat, and with vigorous coughing these 0.5cm - 1cm wide white objects would shoot out of my mouth from the back of my throat. I was unfortunate enough to pick one of these up and smell them. I cannot express in words how much these stank. Google diagnosed me with tonsil stones.

From then on my quest began to fight bb. Using my fingers, cotton buds, toothbrush, and bent hair clips I would remove the stones from the pockets at the back of my mouth every day, along with the most digusting smelling blood ever known to man. My mouth more or less smelt of death. It was no use, the crypts kept getting larger and larger and the tonsil stones kept getting wider and wider.

I decided to speak to my local doctor. He refused to believe me. I felt miserable. I saw another local doctor. He also refused to believe me. I then went back to the first doctor, and with persuasion he referred me to a 'specialist ENT' (ear, nose and throat doctor). Guess what? He didn't believe me. I felt H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. Even my parents didn't believe me, that is, until I coughed one of these up and saved it for them as a present. hehe. The ENT gave me antibiotics, and told me to visit back in a few months. I came back, explained my agony and showed him my tonsils. By now, my tonsil looked a complete RECK. I had messed about with them so much that the crypts were massive and scarred with ulcers left right and centre. I told him that I was feeling very ill because of this, and he booked my appointment to have them removed!

Dissapointment

Tonsils removed. Tonsil stones gone. Age: 16. Guess what? My breath still stunk like crap. I had dry lips, dry mouth, white tongue, bloody-fishy smell on my breath, and very low self-esteem.

The end is nigh

Between my first experience of bb and age 18, I had tried:

- becoming vegan
- drinking loads of water
- excercising regularly
- excluding dairy
- gargling with every mouthwash known to man
- eating slower
- having blood test for diabetes
- brushing like stupid
- taking vitamins, activated charcoal
- drinking green tea
- cleaning my nose with a neti pot (nasal irrigation)
- gargling with hydrogen peroxide (temporary relief)
- eating yoghurt
- bought a tongue scraper

Nothing seemed to work.

This past week

I nailed my problem down to 2 sources. My bb was coming from either from inside my mouth or inside my stomach. Everything to ease my digestion didn't seem to work, so that was excluded.

I brought it down to some kind of gum problem. I began to floss after every meal, taking my time to properly go from one side of the gum to the other, in a triangular shape. At first it was quite difficult (I've never properly flossed), but after a few days I got the hang of it.

And now, as I type with one hand and do the lick test with my other wrist... wait for it to dry... all I can smell is sweet, sweet victory. Haha.

What did it for me

- Tonsil removal
- Oral hygiene

My routine

1. floss in a triangular motion
2. brush teeth with regular toothpaste
3. brush tongue with water/tiny bit of toothpaste
4. gargle with water

Hope this helps someone.

edit: many comments have been made, if your case is similar to mine please read on.

[coconuthead]

Hey, I also get those white things. When you smash them they smell like shit. They smell really bad. I constantly try to cough them up, but they never come up. It feels like they are in the middle of my throat. Most of the time I'll wake up in the morning and do a big "hock" and one will fly right out of my mouth. I am too 18. I have a feeling that my bad breath is coming from either my throat, my digestive system, or it could be post nasal drip. I don't think it's from my mouth, though, because everytime I visit the dentist they tell me how great my hygiene is.


Thanks for the post.

[badbreath0202]

Hey, I also get those white things. When you smash them they smell like shit. They smell really bad. I constantly try to cough them up, but they never come up. It feels like they are in the middle of my throat. Most of the time I'll wake up in the morning and do a big "hock" and one will fly right out of my mouth. I am too 18. I have a feeling that my bad breath is coming from either my throat, my digestive system, or it could be post nasal drip. I don't think it's from my mouth, though, because everytime I visit the dentist they tell me how great my hygiene is.


Thanks for the post.

My dentist also told me my oral hygiene was great. This was before I had my tonsils removed for tonsil stones. I don't know what it is, but my mouth was a wreck, and at the same time my gums were apparently cleaner than ever.

If your 100% about your tonsil stones, I would have them removed asap. It's not a nice procedure to go through, but with good oral hygiene after the surgery I'm sure your BB will be gone.

[coconuthead]

You said that you floss in a triangular motion, what exactly do you mean by that? When I floss, I stick the floss in between each tooth and go up and down between the teeth a few times. I do this with every tooth.

[badbreath0202]

You said that you floss in a triangular motion, what exactly do you mean by that? When I floss, I stick the floss in between each tooth and go up and down between the teeth a few times. I do this with every tooth.

I just mean between each tooth, between the triangular gum lines. I think we mean the same thing! Make sure you do both sides of the gum even for the teeth right at the back.

[coconuthead]

Oh okay I see what you mean. Yeah, it's the same thing, and yes I always make sure I get those teeth at the back, lol.

Thanks

[halitosisux]

badbreath0202, your story is almost identical to mine. The only difference is that poor hygiene was only a factor until I reached about 15 years old. Then at around the same time a deformed wisdom tooth started to emerge, which took over the role of making my life a living hell. After the tooth came out, the odour on my tongue stopped.

I can't remember at what age I started noticing tonsil stones - I think they are something I always had but never paid much attention to until I realised where they came from.

I'm convinced that tonsil stones are a direct result of infection or abnormal situation somewhere in the vicinity of the tonsils. Stones may also simply be a consequence of having a stinking tongue - the debris and skank of which find their way into and coagulate inside the the crypts of the tonsils.

I often get very similar material to tonsil stones, between my teeth. I've noticed that whenever I focus on preventing the surface of my tongue from scraping the sides of my teeth, that this odour between my teeth no longer appears.

[mike987]

They didn't believe you?

How could they not believe you? Did they not examine your tonsils?

That must have been extremely frustrating...

[badbreath0202]

Oh okay I see what you mean. Yeah, it's the same thing, and yes I always make sure I get those teeth at the back, lol.

Thanks

No problem. Hope all goes well!

badbreath0202, your story is almost identical to mine. The only difference is that poor hygiene was only a factor until I reached about 15 years old. Then at around the same time a deformed wisdom tooth started to emerge, which took over the role of making my life a living hell. After the tooth came out, the odour on my tongue stopped.

I can't remember at what age I started noticing tonsil stones - I think they are something I always had but never paid much attention to until I realised where they came from.

I'm convinced that tonsil stones are a direct result of infection or abnormal situation somewhere in the vicinity of the tonsils. Stones may also simply be a consequence of having a stinking tongue - the debris and skank of which find their way into and coagulate inside the the crypts of the tonsils.

I often get very similar material to tonsil stones, between my teeth. I've noticed that whenever I focus on preventing the surface of my tongue from scraping the sides of my teeth, that this odour between my teeth no longer appears.

You might be right, however I think vice-versa, i.e. that a smelly tongue is the result of tonsil stones. I believe that my tonsil stones formed from rotting bits of food, which also explains why these smelly white things sometimes appear between teeth.

If you think that your tonsil stones are contributing to your bad breath (assuming you have bb), my advise would be to get rid of them. From my experience, no amount of cleanliness will keep these little devils from forming.

They didn't believe you?

How could they not believe you? Did they not examine your tonsils?

That must have been extremely frustrating...

I saw 1 dentist, 2 local doctors and 1 specialist ENT. Of which all 4 of them examined my tonsils. By examined I mean shine a torch down for 2 seconds and say "nope.. your fine". It was so, so very fustrating. None of them seemed to be aware or care about such a diagnoses. One doctor laughed at me when I said that I'd read a lot about tonsil stones on the internet. He laughed and told me that I was youthful, and that I should just enjoy my life. I understand his point, but dear-mother-of-god I cannot enjoy my life with horrible stinking breath.

Doctors and dentists in general around the world seem to not acknowledge the fact that there are clean, reasonable people suffering from bb. It's ****ing horrible. BB can be so depressing, and with all the expensive 'miracle' products sold in shops and advertised on the internet its a hole that digs itself. I think all of us with chronic BB would pay all the money in the world to have our problems fixed. The whole thing is a complete scam!

N.B. For tonsil stone sufferers or anyone else who thinks that they might have tonsil stones, I really suggest reading more about the topic and considering going under surgery. It's the best thing I ever did. And no, I'm not some kind of mass-tonsil surgery remover guy who wants to make money off you. Do not spend anymore money on miracle products.

1. remove tonsils
2. floss
3. brush
4. rinse
5. win the game. live your life.

[glamourgirl05]

Baadbreath0202 so are you completely cured of halitosis? And what are the major signs its gone? It just seems so simple ur steps...

[badbreath0202]

Baadbreath0202 so are you completely cured of halitosis? And what are the major signs its gone? It just seems so simple ur steps...

I would like to hope so, usually 1-2 hours after I brushed my teeth my breath would stink like crap, also in the morning my breath would stink like crap. But now, as my gums bleed less and less each day as my flossing continues, I am able to go the whole day without any bad breath (using the lick test). I was even drinking with some friends yesterday, I saw no reactions and when I got home I did the lick test and all I smelt was faint alcohol.

N.B. If your gums bleed when you floss, you most likely have some kind of gum issue. The blood will lessen as your gums get healthier.

[halitosisux]

You might be right, however I think vice-versa, i.e. that a smelly tongue is the result of tonsil stones. I believe that my tonsil stones formed from rotting bits of food, which also explains why these smelly white things sometimes appear between teeth.

The reason why I dont believe that tonsils or tonsil stones cause tongue odour is because I have yet to read of a single person on this forum who suffers with type-1 BB (primarily with tongue odours) who found that it made even the slightest difference to their tongue odour after undergoing a tonsillectomy, let alone cure their BB.

When I had my tonsils removed, I would have bet my life to this being the cause of my bad breath and the odours on my tongue. But how wrong I was.

Most people with smelly tonsils say their breath improves after tonsillectomy - maybe it does - but most people have no means of accurately measuring their true breath odour intensity, so how can they measure improvements? There's no question when our tonsils smell we can sense this when we breathe outwards through the nose with the mouth closed, while moving the rear of the tongue around and causing the throat to move and release that tonsil odour. This effect almost disappears completely after a tonsillectomy - and this may give the impression that breath has improved somewhat.

Another point, is that even when I had a very bad smelling tongue and I still had my tonsils and my wisdom tooth and BB, I sometimes found trapped bits of what was unmistakeably food which had been there long enough to smell or turn into tonsil stone, and yet they smelled of absolutely nothing. And even the slightest speck of tonsil stone which had formed in the last few hours had the most powerful odour. So I think tonsil stones and food debris are two completely separate things.

I always wonder, having dealt with the dental issue which caused my BB, whether I'd still be producing tonsil stones if I still had my tonsils. My feeling is that I would no longer produce them - and if I did, then I think it would be so minimal and all I'd produce was the pre-stone yellowish gunk and it would go unnoticed.

One other point, is that the wisdom tooth causing my BB was on my lower right side. It may just be a coincidence, but both my tonsils were crypted, yet it was always the right side tonsil which smelled the worst and produced the biggest stones.

[badbreath0202]

You might be right, however I think vice-versa, i.e. that a smelly tongue is the result of tonsil stones. I believe that my tonsil stones formed from rotting bits of food, which also explains why these smelly white things sometimes appear between teeth.

The reason why I dont believe that tonsils or tonsil stones cause tongue odour is because I have yet to read of a single person on this forum who suffers with type-1 BB (primarily with tongue odours) who found that it made even the slightest difference to their tongue odour after undergoing a tonsillectomy, let alone cure their BB.

When I had my tonsils removed, I would have bet my life to this being the cause of my bad breath and the odours on my tongue. But how wrong I was.

Most people with smelly tonsils say their breath improves after tonsillectomy - maybe it does - but most people have no means of accurately measuring their true breath odour intensity, so how can they measure improvements? There's no question when our tonsils smell we can sense this when we breathe outwards through the nose with the mouth closed, while moving the rear of the tongue around and causing the throat to move and release that tonsil odour. This effect almost disappears completely after a tonsillectomy - and this may give the impression that breath has improved somewhat.

Another point, is that even when I had a very bad smelling tongue and I still had my tonsils and my wisdom tooth and BB, I sometimes found trapped bits of what was unmistakeably food which had been there long enough to smell or turn into tonsil stone, and yet they smelled of absolutely nothing. And even the slightest speck of tonsil stone which had formed in the last few hours had the most powerful odour. So I think tonsil stones and food debris are two completely separate things.

I always wonder, having dealt with the dental issue which caused my BB, whether I'd still be producing tonsil stones if I still had my tonsils. My feeling is that I would no longer produce them - and if I did, then I think it would be so minimal and all I'd produce was the pre-stone yellowish gunk and it would go unnoticed.

One other point, is that the wisdom tooth causing my BB was on my lower right side. It may just be a coincidence, but both my tonsils were crypted, yet it was always the right side tonsil which smelled the worst and produced the biggest stones.

Hmph. This is strange. Maybe it varies from person to person. When I had braces I once had food stuck at the very back between the braces and my teeth, and when I did pull it out it the stink was identical to that of my tonsil stones. The same smell would occur from flossing out food that had been stuck between my teeth for a long time.

I find it hard to understand how tonsil stones can be unrelated to smelly tongues. But don't worrie. The worse thing is when people don't believe you. So I will accept that you are correct in your case. But please, remain open-minded to my thoughts too.

Maybe your BB is coming from your digestive system?

[halitosisux]

Yes, maybe it does vary from person to person.

I wasn't saying that tonsil stones are unrelated to smelly tongues, I was saying that it's much more likely (in my humble opinion) that whatever is causing the tongue to be smelly (i.e. in your case most probably your gum problems and in my case most definitely a wisdom tooth gum discharge) is also what causes the tonsil stones.

Maybe I'm wrong though and it's just me and that I have flawed logic, but when so many people from this forum who've had tonsil stones and smelly tongues find they still have the exact same smelly tongues after removing their tonsils, that says to me that tonsils do not cause the smelly tongue?

I don't have BB any more since I eventually discovered and dealt with an impacted wisdom tooth. I am open-minded, but maybe I should be quiet and keep my thoughts and opinions to myself and not try to openly think anything thru with anybody because people only seem to get insulted or offended if they think differently.

[Gooner]

The removal of your tonsils is probably irrelevant if it was 2 years ago. If you suffer from chronic BB but have cured yourself by flossing then unless you're hygiene is very poor you might just be experiencing a temporary improvement, I hope not for your sake obviously.

I have lost count of the number of times I was convinced I had cured myself with something so simple like flossing or a new mouthwash only to be disappointed a few days to a week later. I am interested in why this is so common and why a new product or cleaning technique can seemingly cure BB for a short period if the product/technique itself isnt addressing the root cause and is in effect useless. If it is useless then why for so many of us do we report a short term improvement before things revert to normal? There must be a psychological element to this leading to a change in bodily functions - increased serotonin levels? reduced stress hence increased saliva flow, improved digestion?