Bad Breath

Chronic emission of a nasty, foul smell from mouth is quite embarrassing. The primary cause of such an unpleasant smell is the breakdown of proteins by bacteria in the oral cavity. Although bad breath is associated with various dental diseases, certain health problems also cause Halitosis (Bad Breath).

To put it simply, the bad breath of unknown reasons might be a symptom or warning sign of a serious health disorder.

Types of Bad Breath

In general, bad breath caused by oral diseases smells like rotten eggs. The foul-smelling breath emanates due to other health issues have different odors. Identifying the smell in such bad breath helps us to spot the underlying problems.

Here are some of the bad breath inducing diseases and how they smell like:

1)Corpse smell– When the liver becomes insufficient to discharge the waste materials like sulfur-containing amino acids or purifies the blood, the excretions emit a dead person smell like odor from the mouth. This is known as “Fetor hepaticus”.  

2) Fruity Smell – This is common in Diabetic persons. When our body produces insufficient insulin or struggles to process insulin, it leads to increased glucose or sugar in the blood. When the body cannot use glucose to produce energy, it burns the fat and produces ketones. It is also known as “Ketone Breath”.

3) Sweaty feet smell – It is caused by a genetic condition called “Isovaleric Acidemina”. This halts the production of the enzyme necessary to break down the amino acid leucine in our body. This results in the accumulation of isovaleric acid in the blood which is harmful to affect the nervous system.

4) Rotten Meat Smell – It can be termed as Lung Breath as it is caused by lung infections like Bronchitis, Influenza, Pneumonia and probably lung cancer. When the respiratory tract is filled with mucus. Such mucus build- up in the lungs makes the sufferer breath that has an odor like decayed meat.

5) Acidic Breath – It occurs due to the problems in the digastric tract like GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), Bowel obstruction or constipation, Bloating. The breath smells acidic is a symptom of imbalance in the digestive system.

6) Urine Smell – Breath that smells like urine is a symptom of kidney failure. Our kidney absorbs the drinks we consume. When it struggles to filter the waste particles, it makes the sufferer emanate pee smell like breath. Fishy odor is also a sign of kidney diseases.

7) Smells like feces – Infection in sinus cavities make the breath smells like feces. The major role of sinuses is filtering the air entering the nasal region. Chronic infection in sinus cavities put our life at risk.

8) Drug-induced bad breath – Alcohol and Tobacco products are the main reasons behind bad breath. Drinking alcohol absorbs saliva and drastically reduce salivary production as a side effect. It leads to dry mouth and bad breath.

9) Decayed blood smell – Blood-related disorders like blood cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, hemophilia and other blood diseases make the breath smells like old, rotten blood.

10) Menstrual Breath – Women encounter the problem of emitting fishy smell breath during their menstrual period. This occurs as a consequence of hormonal changes in the trimester that cause gum diseases, less saliva production.

11) Trimethylaminuria Breath – Our body needs a nitrogen-containing macronutrient called Choline. It is essential for brain development, muscle movement, kidney function and certain other functionalities. When our body does not break down choline, it leads to a metabolic disorder called Trimethylaminuria. The breath of people suffering from this problem smells like fishy, rotten eggs.

Dentists report that 90% of bad breath occurs due to poor oral hygiene and dental diseases. Whilst the remaining percentage happens due to the problems outside the mouth.

Suffering from bad breath along with unidentified health hassles? Book your appointment with us to diagnose the problem.