Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Hello all. I'm actually an old member but could never sign back in to old accounts after a few days of use.

I've suffered for at least 5 years with bb. I was young and couldn't work so wasn't able to afford a dentist. So I tried to fix it on my own using

Tongue scrapers and gels/foam(saw a small difference in coating but never lasted long)

Therabreath(didn't help)

Profresh(didn't help)

Using bleach as mouthwash and adding a little to my toothpaste(couldn't tell to be honest)

Peroxide(helped a little)

Charcoal tablets and also used some to brush teeth and tongue(helped a lot with tongue coating)

Colloidal silver mouthwash(was horrible. Used it once and never again. Tasted like bleach times 20)

Oral probiotics(helped get my tongue pink but no real difference in smell)

I'm sure I'm leaving out more but like I said, all I could do was try to fix it on my own. I've been suicidal most of my life due to abuse and then having to deal with bb almost took me to the edge so many times. I've had people do and say horrible things to me like I should kill myself and I've had a man spray perfume on me inside a city bus.

I have years worth of stories and because of that, I have social anxiety and not sure if I could ever be fully normal again. Anyways, despite that, I would still date from time to time. My house was toxic so having a boyfriend who's house I could go to and escape sometimes was needed. Sometimes they would say things about my smell but I would be too drunk to let it hurt me at the time.

So the boyfriend I have now has been trying to help me with my depression and anxiety so he knows my bb would need to be taken care of for me to start to feel better. At first, he admitted he didn't know about helping with dental bills(no insurance) cuz he felt like I would leave him after so it's been a long and convincing road to finally get here.

I went to the dentist and go a free xray. Showed I needed a root canal and a couple fillings. My bf couldn't afford the root canal and at the time, flossing that tooth was the only place I could catch a smell so I thought having it pulled would be my cure. Well, it wasn't. Pretty soon, my gums started to smell everywhere after that. It took about another year, almost 2, to go back for more work and the only reason I feel like he really started to help me is cuz I'm pregnant now and the anxiety I would have as far as doc visits etc,he didn't want me putting the baby through that so that's when we really got in gear.

After my fillings, I didn't notice any smells. I would floss between every tooth and check and nothing. My bb was horrible and I always had a bad taste in my mouth with just a heavy, dirty feeling no matter what I did. It could be smelled without me opening my mouth and I could hear/see reactions feet away. Even the dentist had to breathe out of his mouth because it was that bad.

I started going out more after having that done. Just to stores with my bf and going out to eat a couple of times. Never had reactions but was still trying to ease my way back into normal life. I would still turn when talking to ppl sometimes but the times I did look at others while talking, never got a reaction.

Then a few weeks after my fillings, I noticed a smell on my floss. The gums above my wisdom tooth had the same shit smell I thought I was cured of. I was upset and cried. My bf said just make another dentist appointment so I did. When they looked at me, I was told to just brush my tongue or visit an ent if I ever notice a smell. I told him there's a smell for sure and I know it's coming from my wisdom tooth. It was so frustrating. He looked at me and agreed that I need to get them taken out and my gums are inflamed there so he can refer me to a surgeon but he doubts I can be helped since I'm pregnant.

I was legit depressed. They gave me a free cleaning and talked to me about a waterpik. My bf had credit left over him paying for work that I ended up not needing so he used that to buy me the pik. I just knew it wasn't gonna work and I hated my dentist. But while waiting for them to talk to me before leaving after my cleaning, I was sitting right next to this woman that never reacted to me. The room was actually pretty full and no one reacted. The woman actually tried to get comfy in the chairs and leaned forward closer to my face while waiting to be called. I'm not sure what to make of that

Anyways, so after using the waterpik on high for my problem area mixed with peroxide and water, the smell was gone right after. Before that, nothing I did could make the smell leave for 2 secs. I was happy,again, but didn't wanna get my hopes up. I would rub my fingers over my gums and didn't get a smell like I would before. I still didn't wanna get my hopes up, though. I went to sleep and woke up,still no smell. I didn't smell anything again until I ate,had some tea and watched tv for a bit. It was a faint shit smell. 0-10, it was a 2 with 10 being the worst.

So I rinsed my mouth with plain warm water and used regular floss. The floss had a smell again. I used my waterpik and the smell was gone right after. I then brushed my teeth and scrubbed my tongue like always then finished with Listerine. 10 hours later after having dinner, the smell is still gone. Today will be the first time I go out again since they smell came back and left so I'm a little nervous. I know where I'm going is a going to be crowded so I will watch for reactions just to be safe that it's really gone

***edit. I wanted to add that the hygienist and dentist told me my hygiene is great so they don't see what else they can do. I feel like that cleaning was for pity or they just lied about the smell

Like you courage @ AugustSky

thanks for sharing. pls remain couragious. I know we all find ourselve in difficult in a situation where nobody seem to understand us.
Unfortunately, we live in such a world where people can easily figure out you defect personally, i learn't to give little or no attention to whatsoever anyone is saying (negatively) concerning me.

Regard's
Smilinagain

Thanks for the encouragement! I know my story won't be of much help since it's the basics that just took me awhile to be able to do but, I always said I would come and tell my story if I found my cure since this site has helped me so much. Wishing you all luck

August, how did you find your dates? Did you give them a heads up before meeting? How did you broach the topic to your dates / BF?

Did what you eat affected the severity of your BB? Like spicy / fried food made BB worse?

When you first went to the dentist, you didn't do the fillings, just extracted the tooth that needed a root canal?

After you did the fillings and the smell on your floss returned, did you also get reactions and feedback from your bf?

winter wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:32 am August, how did you find your dates? Did you give them a heads up before meeting? How did you broach the topic to your dates / BF?

Did what you eat affected the severity of your BB? Like spicy / fried food made BB worse?

When you first went to the dentist, you didn't do the fillings, just extracted the tooth that needed a root canal?

After you did the fillings and the smell on your floss returned, did you also get reactions and feedback from your bf?

Before I was afraid to leave the house, I had met some male friends that I kept in contact with and ended up dating some. Others I met through siblings. I don't know how but I was still able to get guys attention even with bb. I met some when I HAD to leave this house after being scared to leave also but it takes me awhile to feel comfy with ppl

I noticed things like greasy food would make me FEEL like I smell more but I wasn't sure. The reactions were always the same either way

Correct, I just got an extraction because I thought that was my cause. I didn't get my fillings until awhile after because my bf just didn't want to do it then. I thought it was he couldn't afford it but he's spent thousands on me after finding out I was pregnant to get this taken care in weeks. It was just he didn't want to cuz he thought I would leave smh

My bf has always said he doesn't smell me but I know he just didn't want to hurt me since it's so sensitive to me. He would let things slip but has gotten more careful about his words since we've been together. Like one time, right after brushing and stuff, he went in the bathroom and said "it smells like shit in here." I told him all I did was brush and he tried to tell me he didn't say anything. Another time that was funny to me for some reason, we were in bed and I had exhaled in his face cuz I didn't know I was facing him. He woke up and yelled "gotdamn!" then turned away from me lmao. I can laugh at myself sometimes but it did hurt still. I asked him what he was talking about but he wouldn't answer me

I feel like he knew the smell was back but he would never tell me. He started turning his head away from me again and breathing out of his mouth like he always did When we talked closely and exhaled after kissing me as to blow out the smell I just put in his mouth like smoke

How's your test that day? Confirm floss smells = have BB, floss doesn't smell = no BB?

winter wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:37 pm How's your test that day? Confirm floss smells = have BB, floss doesn't smell = no BB?

Yeah when i don't smell anything on the floss, I don't get any reactions. I went somewhere with lots of people and had to talk closely a couple of times and they only thing that happened was a man exhaling once. I'm going to have to go out a lot more soon so I will be able to really test this out more. Something that never happened before this is I can smell my bfs breath when he wakes up or hasn't brushed yet that day

put few drops of bleach inside the waterpik,,,,it is even stronger than peroxide.....

Jimi Stein wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:44 pm put few drops of bleach inside the waterpik,,,,it is even stronger than peroxide.....

Thanks! I'm going to try because I noticed a reaction when I was really close to someone. So today I flossed, used the waterpik, brushed my teeth and tongue with reg toothpaste with charcoal sprinkled on it and skipped the mouthwash to see if the smell came back right after. I was able to smell it after 3 and a half hours. Faint but there and enough to make me be careful when talking. I would rate it a 2-3 out of 10, with 10 being the worst smell. Sigh. Rinsing with just water helped and brought it down to a number. I didn't eat anything in between times. I will do this again with mouthwash this time and see how long it lasts then add the bleach if I get the same result.

AugustSky wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:21 am Yeah when i don't smell anything on the floss, I don't get any reactions. I went somewhere with lots of people and had to talk closely a couple of times and they only thing that happened was a man exhaling once. I'm going to have to go out a lot more soon so I will be able to really test this out more. Something that never happened before this is I can smell my bfs breath when he wakes up or hasn't brushed yet that day

Congratulations! Finding the source and being able to feedback to yourself are already half the battle.

Talking close to people sometimes give me reactions. I'm trying to keep the area clean until I can get my wisdom teeth out but it's confusing. Some days, it comes back in like 3 hours, sometimes 10, sometimes it's gone all day. I don't do anything new any of those times so I'm not sure wtf is going on. The reactions have been mild compared to what I used to get but still. Like my doc leaving the room only to come back with gum and chewing with her mouth open. I wish I had someone to test this out with truly and be honest with me how bad it is. I think I'm going to carry a small bottle of mouthwash from now on

AugustSky,

You may have gum disease (I'm very familiar with the symptoms you described.) My gums aren't in that bad condition too (no pus or pain or excessive swelling but bleeds sometimes and that horrible smell) the smell is there in some sections when I floss, mostly fecal. I will be seeing a periodontist this May and will insist my gum pockets to be measured since I may have early periodontitis. Reduce eating meat, particularly beef and lean parts of pork and chicken. Also, while still having the smell, lessen eating tryptophan/methionine rich foods like cheese, soy and egg whites since these will give you the fecal smell as a byproduct. Strong minty toothpaste and mouthwashes that cause dry mouth won't help. Choose a milder toothpaste, better if SLS-free.

added info, pregnancy can trigger gingivitis (to gum disease/periodontitis), treatment for early periodontitis will be scaling and root planing (deep cleaning, different from regular cleaning) this procedure will help the inflamed gums reattached tightly and will probably get rid of the smell if gum disease is really the cause of your bb

space wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:34 am AugustSky,

You may have gum disease (I'm very familiar with the symptoms you described.) My gums aren't in that bad condition too (no pus or pain or excessive swelling but bleeds sometimes and that horrible smell) the smell is there in some sections when I floss, mostly fecal. I will be seeing a periodontist this May and will insist my gum pockets to be measured since I may have early periodontitis. Reduce eating meat, particularly beef and lean parts of pork and chicken. Also, while still having the smell, lessen eating tryptophan/methionine rich foods like cheese, soy and egg whites since these will give you the fecal smell as a byproduct. Strong minty toothpaste and mouthwashes that cause dry mouth won't help. Choose a milder toothpaste, better if SLS-free.

Space, does that section smell constantly, even right after you clean it properly? If not, do you still get BB when that section doesn't smell?

Right after I floss up to maybe 12 hours or less depending on what I eat or toothpaste I used, the sections dont smell. I have this way of knowing if my gums smell or not, I would let the tip of my tongue touch my gums and pull it away quickly, it smells like sh*t most of the time if I don't floss those sections.

Interestingly, SOME SECTIONS DON'T SMELL AT ALL even if I don't floss them while SOME SPECIAL SECTIONS LIKE THE LAST UPPER MOLARS ARE ALWAYS FECAL SMELLING even if I cleaned them properly and that part of the gums slightly pulled away from the tooth.

I gave each tooth a number as my system for flossing, and use new floss thread for each number/sections. That's how I knew that not all of my gums smell and thought that its not a mouth imbalance and more like gum disease since its fecal smelling but some sections don't have it. I have another that's causing my bb (the ever mysterious clear/transparent mucus in throat that won't go away) but I will be really happy if this gum problem will get treated since it's one of the major cause of my bb. I've read about someone who treated his gum disease by nightly fasting, changing his diet and using a waterpik and sonic brush, he didnt receive any deep cleaning procedure he stated, but it took him like almost 2 years to heal from it.