Causes of BAD BREATH?

Bad breath is not contagious and you cannot catch it from someone else.

Secondly, chronic bad breath (Halitosis) does not come from the stomach. The

only stomach odor that someone smells occurs when you burp. Certain foods

like garlic and spicy foods once absorbed into the body can release odor

through the lungs when your breathe. This food odor is transitory and should

not be confused with bad breath. Air flow though the nose of someone with bad

breath does not have an offensive odor, only air flow through the mouth.

Because our sense of smell has the ability to adjust to odor most people with

halitosis are not aware of their bad breath.

Nearly all bad breath originates from the mouth, mostly from the surface of

the tongue, below the gum line, between the teeth and other hard to reach

areas. The mouth is normally inhabited by bacteria and the balance between

the different kinds of bacteria determines the quality of your breath. The

odor causing bacteria are anaerobic which means they cannot live in the

presence of oxygen. These anaerobic bacteria inhabit the surface of the

tongue by residing between the papillae of the tongue which is oxygen

deficient i.e. they live "within" the tongue. These bacteria cannot be

removed completely with a tongue scraper and will recolonize the mouth

following antibody therapy. These naturally occurring bacteria feed on

proteins (oral debris) and produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) as a

by-product of metabolism causing the malodor of bad breath.

Everyone has some level of VSC in their mouth, but it is at a low level that

cannot be detected by the nose. When these levels of VSC gets high it becomes

detectable as bad breath. Halitosis is rarely associated with certain medical

conditions - e.g.: diabetes. If the onset is sudden, grows noticeably worse

over a short period of time and is associated with fever, see a doctor.