What Is Halitosis?

Halitosis is a medical term that refers to bad breath, a condition estimated to affect 50 to 65 percent of the population. About 90 percent of the time the source of bad breath can be attributed to sources in your mouth; while the remaining 10 percent can be caused by other health factors.

Halitosis or bad breath is generally caused by sulfur-producing bacteria that normally occur in your mouth on the surface of the tongue, teeth, gums, and in the throat. These bacteria are normal and do not typically cause problems, but when they break down the sugars and proteins of food that accumulates in your mouth, halitosis or bad breath results. The bad odor is due to odorous volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) produced by these bacteria.

Oral Sources of Halitosis

There are many factors that can be the cause of your halitosis or bad breath and again, 90 percent of the time these can be traced to sources in your mouth. The most common causes of halitosis are:

• Accumulation of food within pockets around the teeth
• Accumulation of food among the bumps at the back of the tongue
• Food accumulation in small pockets in the tonsils
• Sloughed cells from the mouth and diminished saliva flow
• Poor oral hygiene
• Coating of the tongue
• Faulty dental restorations
• Periodontal disease
• Smoking
• Impacted food
• Throat infections
• Certain drinks like coffee and liquor
• Nasal and sinus infections

Poor oral hygiene is perhaps the largest cause of bad breath and the odor is your body's way of letting you know. Some people have a predisposition to bad breath even though they brush frequently, and it has mostly to do with their body chemistry. People who rarely visit a dentist can have a buildup of tarter on their teeth and often have frequent problems with halitosis. So it's important to visit your dentist at least once a year; twice if you have problems with tarter buildup in your mouth.

Food Sources of Halitosis

To a lesser extent, the following factors can also cause you to have bad breath:

• Certain foods - onion, garlic, and cauliflower all produce certain odors and lead to a case of short-lived halitosis
• Acid indigestion

Frequently after eating certain types of foods our body will produce an odor; this is normal and typically goes away within a few hours to a day. At times the food we eat can also give you indigestion and the odor isn't actually halitosis, but rather gases escaping from your stomach. The best method to prevent this from happening is to obviously avoid those foods that cause these reactions in you.

Medical Causes of Halitosis

If after investigating the source of your halitosis and you don't find it to be one of the above factors, your bad breath may be an indicator of a more serious health problem. About 10 percent of the time, halitosis can be attributed to a more serious health problems and the more likely of these are:

• Peptic ulcer
• Lung infections
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease
• Diabetes mellitus
• Cancer
• Your own imagination

To determine if the source of your bad breath is one of these you should seek the advice of your doctor/dentist. As for it being your imagination, it's possible especially for those who have suffered from chronic halitosis in the past.

The Vicious Cycle

While the odor associated with halitosis can cause embarrassment and annoyance to those who suffer from it; it has also been shown to cause damage to the tissues of the mouth and can lead to periodontal disease (the inflammation of the gums and the ligaments that support the teeth).

This turns into a vicious cycle; your bad breath causes damage to the tissues in your mouth, the damaged tissues harbor more bacteria, which cause more damage, which cause more bad breath...and so on. If you find yourself in such a situation, seek dental help from your dentist.