What causes taste loss at times?
Dr. D.Sendhil Nathan MDS, DNB Prosthodontics And Implantology
You should pay attention to your health when you cannot sense the taste of food. It is not just a taste disorder and may be a warning sign of a health disorder. For instance, taste loss happens with damage to the nervous system. Recently, doctors observe that people affected with coronavirus lose their sense of taste and smell.
In simply, the decreased ability to taste happens when your taste buds get compromised due to various things say daily habits, side effects of disorders, etc.
Different types of taste disorders
Apart from taste loss, a compromised nervous system provokes bad and atypical tastes with which the taste disorder is classified as follows:
- Phantom Taste Sensation – This is a congenital disorder and causes permanent bad taste in the mouth.
- Hypogeusia – People with this syndrome cannot sense taste in certain kinds of foods alone.
- Dysgeusia – Presence of metallic or foul taste in the mouth.
- Ageusia – The condition in which a person entirely loses his/her ability to taste.
Various factors trigger such taste loss and atypical taste in your mouth which are described by our dental doctors here.
Why do some people have taste loss at times?
1) Age
Everyone possesses around 10,000 taste buds in their tongue. The number and size of taste buds shrink when we get old. Mostly, men begin to sense taste loss in their 50s whilst women observe it in their 40s.
Similarly, when this age-related disability happens, the sufferers feel difficult to identity sweet and salty flavors.
If you are aged above 40 and notice tastelessness in your mouth, consult your doctor because there might be something else behind this problem.
2) Poor Oral Hygiene
Neglecting tongue cleaning is also a reason behind taste loss. Bacteria and food debris deposited in the grooves over the tongue surface are powerful enough to block the taste buds.
Dentists reveal that people who do not maintain good oral care are highly susceptible to dysgeusia that cause foul taste along with burning sensation and dryness in the mouth.
3) Smoking
Similar to microbes, the toxic substances in cigarettes and other tobacco products can also impede the taste buds from sensing the flavors of cuisines.
If you are a smoker and have taste disorders, consult your dentist because taste loss is reversible for smokers.
4) Medications
You might encounter allergic reactions to medications at least once in your life. Disability to sense taste is also an effect of some medications we are taking. The ingredients in some drugs introduce chemicals in saliva that makes us hard to identify the flavor of cuisines.
The common medications responsible for taste loss include:
- Beta-blockers
- Antidepressants
- ACE inhibitors
- Antihistamines
- Antibiotics
- Opioids
- Morphine
5) Injuries & Illnesses
Loss of taste and smell occurs as a side effect of bodily disorders and some treatments like chemotherapy. Most of the cancer patients who are receiving radiation therapy develop taste disorders following the treatment.
Likewise, people who had deep injuries in the head may affect the nerves responsible for taste and smell. Apart from such injuries, certain infectious conditions are also linked to taste loss as follows:
- Infection in nose, sinuses, and throat
- A cyst that blocks the nasal passage
- Dental abscesses
- Problems in fillings, dentures or other dental appliances
Bottom line
When your dentist or ENT specialist pinpoints the root cause of taste loss after assessing the oral cavity, ears, and nose, the treatment plan is derived as per the problem. If taste disorder happens with any illness, you can regain the sense once you get rid of the disorder.
