Halitosis (bad breath) is the bad odor in the breath that comes out from the mouth or nose which disturbs both the person and the people around. Bad breath has a negative effect on social life and may harm the self-confidence of the person.
Patients apply to doctors for bad breath either themselves or as a result of warnings from others. After decayed teeth and periodontal diseases, the most frequently seen complaint at dental clinics is bad breath.
Bad breath can be frequently seen in people from all ages in the community. In at least 50% of adults, at some time in their lives and especially after waking up, a level of bad breath is observed.
Research reveals that in men, bad breath is observed 3 times more than in women. Furthermore, in individuals above the age of 20, it is observed 3 times more than in children.
In individuals from the middle age group, especially during morning times, heavy bad breath is observed. In people with advanced ages, mouth odor is seen more due to the decrease of saliva in the mouth.
Reasons for bad breath could be pathological or physiological and in some cases, both of them could be seen together.
80-90% of pathological halitosis arises relating to the mouth and 10-20% of it arises due to reasons not relating to the mouth.
Due to dental and gingival diseases which it causes directly or indirectly, cigarettes are an indirect reason for halitosis. Cigarette smoke contains volatile sulfur compounds. These compounds temporarily penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, and are released through the breath even hours after smoking.
Halitosis treatment is based on paying attention to mouth hygiene, brushing teeth and tongue, cleaning the parts between the teeth, and having treatment for dental and gingival diseases.
While many products are used to avoid bacterial formation on teeth, cleaning of the tongue, which is an organ bearing millions of bacteria causing mouth odor, has been recently noticed.
Hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan that form in relation to this layer are directly related to bad breath. For this reason, brushing the tongue is as important as brushing teeth.