Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

I have always heard and read that most cases of halitosis was caused by bacteria, but I always thought my bad breath had a different origin. Considering that my mother, her father and my two sons both have it, I felt almost certain bacteria was not the cause. Felt as though we must have some gene defect that causes us to be deficient in some thing that creates the foul smell or fails to eliminate the smells. Believing this caused me to not have the greatest oral cleaning routine because I just felt no matter what I could do, I would always have bad breath.
Now I have come with a different theory. I do believe quite definitively that it is an inherited trait, however I do think the origin is indeed bacteria. My theory is that we do have a gene that causes us to be deficient in some thing that would normally flush out or kill the bacterias that cause stinky breath. What I have noticed is that our bad breath is not constant. When it is present, it is bad. But then there are times when it is completely gone, specifically after a meal and drinking a good amount of fluid. This doesn't last however. The bad breath usually returns within an hour or so. One other thing I want to mention is that I suffered from severe morning sickness with my last pregnancy and I noticed my breath would be more neutral after vomiting(sorry for TMI). I am thinking that whatever I am deficient in, lives within the gut as normal but not in my mouth as it should.
Now that I do believe it is bacteria after all, I have started to get serious with my oral routine. I just purchased several mouthwashes and a waterpik machine. I am going to be cleaning my mouth (brushing, flossing and waterpiking) immediately after eating for all meals. I also intend to drink more fluid throughout the day. I believe this routine will greatly reduce the bad breath.

Overall, maybe the oral hygiene is especially important for us with bb, given that it might add to an already noticeable amount of VSCs in our breath. It’s a valuable message to try to tackle the bb issue from different angles. However, in your case, the issue is very likely hereditary, which I’d encourage you to look at.

Here’re some hereditary metabolic disorders that can cause extraoral (blood-borne) bb (ie from nose & mouth) which I know about:
1) SELENBP-1 mutation causes high dimethylsulfide; this kind of bb will get worse with eating cauliflower/cabbage/etc (you can look up the info on which foods worsen it); the affected people only have bb as a complaint

https://www.ru.nl/english/news-agenda/n ... ad-breath/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5742538/

2)Trimethylaminuria: causes fish-like or fecal bb & body odour (from bodily fluids & breath) which gets worse with consuming certain foods, like fish, meat, eggs, etc; (again, you can look up online foods that trigger it)

3)Hypermethioniemia: high methionine in blood; sometimes, those affected also have additional symptoms to bb; it could be acquired, such as through liver cirrhosis or inborn. The offending foods are: chicken, fish, milk, red meat, eggs; lower methionine foods: fruits, nuts, veggies, grains, and beans
Here’s link to a study that lists causes / pathways for hypermethioninemia:
‪https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21308989/‬

4)any other metabolic disorders of which there’re plenty! Some inborn errors of metabolism will cause an unusual smell from skin & breath; sometimes acquired errors of metabolism can also be observed (eg hypermethioninemia due to liver cirrhosis)

5) It’s possible for some particularly bad food intolerances to be inherited; eg see posts in the thread made by user Rolisa - she has intolerance/sensitivity to pork, as did her grandmother (who also had bb as her). In that thread she discusses how she overcame the bb issue by tackling diet, motility and oral hygiene.

worriedmom wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:15 pm I have always heard and read that most cases of halitosis was caused by bacteria, but I always thought my bad breath had a different origin. Considering that my mother, her father and my two sons both have it, I felt almost certain bacteria was not the cause. Felt as though we must have some gene defect that causes us to be deficient in some thing that creates the foul smell or fails to eliminate the smells. Believing this caused me to not have the greatest oral cleaning routine because I just felt no matter what I could do, I would always have bad breath.
Now I have come with a different theory. I do believe quite definitively that it is an inherited trait, however I do think the origin is indeed bacteria. My theory is that we do have a gene that causes us to be deficient in some thing that would normally flush out or kill the bacterias that cause stinky breath. What I have noticed is that our bad breath is not constant. When it is present, it is bad. But then there are times when it is completely gone, specifically after a meal and drinking a good amount of fluid. This doesn't last however. The bad breath usually returns within an hour or so. One other thing I want to mention is that I suffered from severe morning sickness with my last pregnancy and I noticed my breath would be more neutral after vomiting(sorry for TMI). I am thinking that whatever I am deficient in, lives within the gut as normal but not in my mouth as it should.
Now that I do believe it is bacteria after all, I have started to get serious with my oral routine. I just purchased several mouthwashes and a waterpik machine. I am going to be cleaning my mouth (brushing, flossing and waterpiking) immediately after eating for all meals. I also intend to drink more fluid throughout the day. I believe this routine will greatly reduce the bad breath.