7 uncommon causes of Halitosis (Bad Breath)
Dr. D.Sendhil Nathan MDS, DNB Prosthodontics And Implantology
It is really embarrassing to encounter a foul smell or bad odor when you open your mouth. If your breath smells bad, the way people reacts to you will be abnormal. They may hesitate to converse with you because no one will like to stand or come close to a source causing a foul smell. Am I right?
Do you experience such a nasty odor from your mouth? Don’t worry. It is a common dental issue. You are not only the person suffering from bad breath.
Bacteria present in the mouth is the base reason for bad breath. There are various factors that trigger the oral bacteria to make your breath smells bad. The Dental Specialists in our Dental Clinic have listed various uncommon factors producing bad breath in this post.
1. Medications
The chemical particles present in drugs and medications are effective to consume the saliva in our mouth. It leads to dry mouth (Medical Professionals call it as “Xerostomia”).
Saliva is indispensable to erode or wash away the oral bacteria in our mouth. If your mouth does not get enough humidity due to lack of saliva, then the bacteria will breed inside your mouth. Thus the mouth persuades the bacteria and produces smellish breath.
2. Pungent foods
Food items you eat are also responsible for bad breath. When you chew food items like onion or garlic that contain aromatic flavors or sulphuric compounds, they broke and ingested into the bloodstream. They are then transferred to the lungs. The air you exhale from the lungs contain the odor compounds that smells nasty.
3. Smoking and Drinking
Smoking does not make your mouth smells stinky, it is also efficient to turn your breath smells foul. Likewise, alcohol consumed through drinks also exhale metabolized products that cause bad breath.
The chemical components like nicotine in cigarettes and alcohols present in wines ingest the saliva. Similarly, they are powerful to reduce the blood supply to gums which makes your mouth as a playground for oral bacteria to produce an unpleasant odor.
4. Acid reflux
Acids produced by undigested food particles, regurgitated bile travels back from the stomach to Esophagus. It produces a burning sensation in your chest and throat. This is called as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).
People having GERD are highly prone to bad breath as the acids frequently move back to their mouth. In such cases, the acid infects their throat and infect their oral structure. Now the oral bacteria take advantage of this condition and produce bad breath.
5. Obesity
Microorganisms named Archaea are present in the gut of human beings. It is solely responsible for weight gain. The presence of microorganisms is higher in a number of obese people when compared to normal people. Archeae releases a small amount of distinctive gas (methane) for overweight persons. It is odorless and smells bad, that causes bad breath.
6. Sinus infection
In general, a small amount of mucus present in our nose. It absorbs the foreign particles present in the air we breathe. When you get cold or sinus infection, a large amount of mucous deposited on the back of your throat. It absorbs the odor-causing bacteria and travels through the nasal cavity. This is also a factor behind bad breath.
7. Untreated Diseases
Similar to GERD, certain abnormalities in our body functioning induce Halitosis. Health issues like metabolic disorders, gum diseases, chronic sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, respiratory tract infection, liver diseases, kidney diseases also cause bad breath.
In other words, bad breath is a symptom of various serious diseases and health hazards as mentioned above.
Poor oral routine, improper cleaning of dental appliances like dentures, aligners also turn one’s breath smells foul.
If you experience foul smelling odor in your mouth even though cleaning mouth as well as your tongue, then your health may be at risk. Bad breath is the warning signal shown by your body to diagnose the problem.
