The Bad Breath Balancing Act

By Richard A. Miller, DDS

National Breath Center®

. https://beathalitosis.com/

More Dental Health Articles

The Bad Breath Balancing Act

While the odor compounds that cause bad breath can be identified and neutralized, it is the bacteria from which they originate that are the most important part of the bad breath connection. Over 90 percent of all bad breath originates from the mouth with its origin being the bacteria that live there.

Two types of bacteria exist in our mouths those that live without air (anaerobic) and those that must have air to live (aerobic). The anaerobic bacteria are the ones that cause both halitosis and gum disease.

Because they can live without air, they are able to thrive amongst the tongue biofilm (coating), under the gums and at the bottom of accumulations of food, debris, dead blood and skin cells, and the foods we eat, especially in food traps.

Killing and removing these bacteria minimizes their effect which is the treatment part of the halitosis total cure. In addition, this treatment restores the balance of these bacteria in the mouth.

When the conditions of the mouth support a balance between these two types of bacteria, there is no bad breath, no tooth decay, and no gum disease. So how do we achieve this?

Here's how this relates to tongue coating and bacteria on the tongue. In an article published in the Journal of Applied Oral Science, the authors state that “salivary pH tended to be acidic while tongue coating pH tended to be alkaline.”

In halitosis, this means that there is a war going on between the saliva in our mouths and the tongue coating, gum problems, food traps, and the bacteria. In halitosis the coating and its bacterial content are winning, creating the odors of bad breath.

To win this “war” and restore the balance, we must lower the concentration of the halitosis-causing bacteria and create a way for our mouths to buffer the remaining bacteria. In the dental office, we do this with a Tongue Rejuvenation technique and gum treatment if needed.

Another beneficial property of saliva is that it carries oxygen. Oxygenation is a primary way to kill bacteria and neutralize the odors and is called buffering. Unfortunately, once someone has a significant tongue and gum coating (biofilm), increasing oxygen in the saliva is too little, too late and does little to change the bacteria kill rate or the odor elimination properties. This is why bad breath products only work in a limited fashion.

Restoring the balance by eliminating the anaerobic bacteria (Tongue Rejuvenation and gum treatment if needed) and preventing them from returning changes the acid level to one that is favorable for the elimination of halitosis.

That is why professional biofilm removal is necessary for a cure. Because mouthwashes and tongue scraping only penetrate the top layers of a tongue coating, the vast majority of bacteria in the coating are still active and keep producing the odors we know as bad breath. With Tongue Rejuvenation and gum treatment, the balance shifts away from an anaerobic environment favorable to mouth odor, to a balanced environment where no odor exists and gum disease and gum inflammation are eliminated.