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What causes halitosis?
Halitosis Halitosis can be caused by a large variety of things. .
Mouth .
Though the causes of breath odor are not entirely understood, most unpleasant odors are known… to arise from proteinstrapped in the mouth which are processed by oral bacteria. There areover 600 types of bacteria found in the average mouth. Several dozensof these can produce high levels of foul odors when incubated in the laboratory..
The most common location for mouth-related halitosis is the tongue .Large quantities of naturally-occurring bacteria are often found on theposterior dorsum of the tongue, where they are relatively undisturbedby normal activity. This part of the tongue is relatively dry andpoorly cleansed, and bacterial populations can thrive on remnants of food deposits, dead epithelial cells and postnasal drip. The convoluted microbial structure of the tongue dorsum provides an ideal habitat for anaerobic bacteria,which flourish under a continually-forming tongue coating of fooddebris, dead cells, postnasal drip and overlying bacteria, living anddead. When left on the tongue, the anaerobic respiration of such bacteria can yield either the putrescent smell of indole, skatole, polyamines, or the "rotten egg" smell of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulfide..
The odors are produced mainly due to the anaerobic breakdown of proteins into individual amino acids, followed by the further breakdown of certain amino acids to produce detectable foul gases. For example, the breakdown of cysteine and methionineproduce hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan respectively. Volatilesulfur compounds have been shown to be statistically associated withoral malodor levels, and usually decrease following successfultreatment..
Other parts of the mouth may also contribute to the overall odor,but are not as common as the back of the tongue. These locations are,in descending prevalence order: inter-dental and sub-gingival niches,faulty dental work, food-impaction areas in-between the teeth, abscesses and unclean dentures..
Gum Disease .
There is some controversy over the role of periodontal diseases in causing bad breath. Whereas bacteria growing below the gumline (subgingival dental plaque)have a foul smell upon removal, several studies reported no statisticalcorrelation between malodor and periodontal parameters..
Nose .
The second major source of bad breath is the nose. In this instance, the odor exiting the nostrils has a pungent odor which differs from the oral odor. Nasal odor may be due to sinus infections or foreign bodies..
Tonsils .
Putrefaction from the tonsilsis generally considered a minor cause of bad breath (contributing tosome 3-5% of cases). Although some people (approximately 5% of thepopulation) suffer from small bits of calcified matter in tonsillar crypts (called tonsilloliths), which themselves smell extremely foul when released, they do not necessarily cause bad breath..
Systemic diseases .
There are a few systemic (non oral) medical conditions which maycause foul breath odor, but these are extremely infrequent in thegeneral population. Such conditions are: .
Fetor hepaticus: an example of a rare type of bad breath caused by chronic liver failure. .
Lower respiratory tract infections (Bronchial and lung infections). .
Renal infections and renal failure. .
Carcinoma. .
Trimethylaminuria ("fish odor syndrome"). .
Diabetes mellitus. .
Metabolic dysfunction. .
People suffering from halitosis should not immediately conclude thatthey suffer from these conditions or diseases just by deducing from thebreath odor alone, since these conditions are rare, may not display badbreath at all and will most likely show additional characters, whichare more definitive than the breath odor..
Most researchers consider the stomach as a very uncommon source of bad breath (except in belching). The esophagus is a closed and collapsed tube, and continuous flow (as opposed to a simple burp) of gas or putrid substances from the stomach indicates a health problem - such as reflux or a fistula between the stomach and the esophagus - which will demonstrate more serious manifestations than just foul odor. [ 1] 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halitosis (MORE)
