Bad breath

[anxious Annie]

My husband is 73 years old. Suddenly he has the most offensive bad breath. I don't think I have ever smelled anything this bad. It makes no difference what he eats. He brushes his teeth, flosses, uses mouth wash. This is only a temporary solution, lasting only a few minutes. He has never had this problem before. What could be causing it. I might add, I can smell it when I just walk past him.

[anxious Annie]

Does anyone out there have any idea what can be causing this. Would appreciate your input.

Thanks

[angelwings1]

Hello Anxious Annie, I would be too!! I am an ex Dental Hygenist so with moderate qualification I give my suggestions..
there are a number of reasons for hallitosis (bad breath) they are,
basically rotten teeth, maybe a dental visit?
gum disease which would be a dental visit,
what he is eating..chilli, salamis, garlic,sardines.etc
illness ie. tummy bug or similar....maybe a doctors visit for a check up would be a good idea.
I wish you all the best and what about a face mask for you? hehe sorry!
good luck xx

[Unregistered]

Hello Anxious Annie, I would be too!! I am an ex Dental Hygenist so with moderate qualification I give my suggestions..
there are a number of reasons for hallitosis (bad breath) they are,
basically rotten teeth, maybe a dental visit?
gum disease which would be a dental visit,
what he is eating..chilli, salamis, garlic,sardines.etc
illness ie. tummy bug or similar....maybe a doctors visit for a check up would be a good idea.
I wish you all the best and what about a face mask for you? hehe sorry!
good luck xx

Hi, I sufferred from bad breath for quite a while (maybe 10 yrs ... the last 4-5 years really went bad.. by breath was smelling like ****.

I tried a lot of mouthwasheslike listerine etc but that didnt help. Tongue scrapers helped a lot in cleaning the tongue but that was not sufficient. I dont smoke and I have left alcohol over 6 years back.

15 days ago, my problem disappeared. No bad breath any more. previously people used to be touching their nose while talking to me and I knew that even though I could not smell the bad-breath coming out of my mouth, my breath was still "BAD".

Solution: 15 days ago, I visited the dentist.. I have visited the dentist many times before for root-canals and cavities. This time the dentist found a "dead root" .. maybe the 5th tooth from the front. The dentist had asked me whether I has breathing problems to which I replied no... but know I always had a stuffy nose (the same side which had the dead root).

Frankly speaking I did not know the dead root (completely broken tooth that turned black in color) could be the cause of this problem. Once the dead root was extracted, the smell had gone away ( I cant tell you the pain I went thru when the tooth was extracted, not at the time because of anesthetics but once the local anasthesia effect went away.
The doctor (dentist) also prescribed antibiotics (TRESMOX LB) 250 mg capsules - 1 capsule at a time 2 times a day X for 5 days.(Tresmox LB is => Amoxycillin and Dicloxacillin with Lactic acid Bacillus capsules) I am not recommending any antibiotics.. this is what was specifically recommended in my case.. but I am penning it down just for the record.

The dentist is a world class dentist, orthodontist, periodontist etc, etc) He has treated a couple of beauty contestants of the Miss Universe pageant.

The reason I am writing this is because I know what a problem bad breath can be and I never found a complete solution to this. Previously I has also done the following which was of much help but never eliminated the bad breath:

Do this at least twice a day.
================================================== ==========
1. to get the coat off, one thing that you can do is to take some dental floss (not tape, but standard waxed floss) and run it over your tongue. The floss will scrape across the surface of the tongue, and this will penetrate deeper than a tongue scraper or a brush. You will notice a lot of material being cut off from the surface, use a tongue scraper or a teaspoon flipped upside down to collect it off and into the sink.

2. make sure to go in the reverse direction (front to back) as well as back to front when scraping regardless of the tool being used. First go back to front in a series until the tongue seems as clean as possible, then go front to back.

3. after using the floss, use a brush, the tung brush or something similar is better than a standard toothbrush.

4. products you can use that are very helpful are anything with stablilized oxygen... Trioral toothpaste is one (plus your teeth get incredibly clean), Therabreath toothpaste is also good. Combine these with the rinses available from either company. Trioral's product is particularly good. These can be purchased at trioral.com ... I swear by them.

5. you have to scrape and brush religiously, scrape twice a day... brush your teeth for two minutes at a time, including the tongue with the tongue brush and one of these toothpastes.

6. a lot of this is possibly caused by post nasal drip, which is also possibly caused by acid reflux. If you notice you are getting a lot of post nasal drip right after eating (i.e. you find that you are clearing your throat a lot), then try Zantac or at the very least Tums to neutralize the acid. Taking care of the acid reflux can reduce the post nasal drip which in turn will improve the situation with your tongue. A lot of the problem of trying to fix the tongue issue is because it is a third level problem and so seems quite mysterious in its cause. So try attacking it starting with the acid reflux if you have post nasal drip.

7. Sinus irrigation is VERY VERY important to add to the mix. There are products in the drug stores you can buy but these are kind of misters that do not do much other than get your sinuses a bit wet. Low flow (I don't like the sound of that!). What you need is high flow. Many have recommended Neilmed but this was not available in my area.

So here are the order of operations:

1. rinse your sinuses with a Sinus Rinse... use one or two bottles worth
2. floss your tongue both ways
3. scrape your tongue both ways
4. floss your teeth first (mega important for good oral hygiene), then brush your teeth with Trioral (I think they are the best) or a similar product for 2 minutes
5. brush your tongue for 1 minute with Trioral and a good tongue brush
6. gargle and rise with Trioral rinse for the recommended time

Do this at least twice a day.

Additionally have some zantac or tums depending on your preference and whether or not you think you may suffer from acid reflux.

At the very least you will stay well ahead of the buildup of the gunk and if very religious you will have a pink and healthy tongue. It requires 100% consistency though, if you get lazy then you will deal with the symptoms again.

One more tip on tongue scraping and brushing, if you grab and pull the tip of your tongue using a washcloth, pulling it tight will help the scraping process get more of the gunk off. Also, pressure on the end of your tongue helps to supress the gag reflex, which allows you to go further back on the tongue.