Diagnosing Halitosis

Self or Home diagnosing and Professional diagnosing are the two ways to identify halitosis.

Self or Home Diagnosing

How to self-diagnose if you have halitosis (bad breath):

Step #1 - Lick the inside of your wrist.

Step #2 - Sniff the spot you just licked

Step #3 - If it smells unpleasant, then, you have bad breath.

Step #4 - You can also tell that you have bad breath, if you have an unpleasant taste in your mouth

There are some obvious times when you just KNOW that you are going to have bad breath like after you eat garlic or onions.

Professional Diagnosing

The first thing your health care professional will do is ask you to not eat anything before coming in for your appointment. The second thing is that someone in the medical office will take a history (medications you are taking, when you first noticed the symptoms and what the symptoms are). Then, there will be a physical examination. The exam will entail a complete evaluation of the oral cavity and will be looking in particular for any ulcerations, dryness, trauma, postnasal drainage, infections, cryptic tonsils or neoplasms.

The healthcare professional will try to determine if the source for the halitosis (if present) is systemic or from the oral cavity. There are two techniques that may be used to determine the source.

Technique #1 - You will be asked to seal your lips and blow air through your nose. If a bad odor is noted, this will be suggestive of a systemic source.

Technique #2 - You will be asked to pinch your nose and keep your lips closed. You will then hold your respiration and exhale gently through your mouth. If there is an odor now, than it is likely that the source is local (your mouth).

If your healthcare professional suspects that the source may involve your sinuses, thorax, or abdomen or infectious processes, neoplasms or GERD he/she may order radiological studies or imaging procedures to complete the diagnosis.

The majority of diagnosis concerning halitosis can be determined by history and a complete physical examination. Oral causes/sources are the reason for 80 to 90% of all cases. Sometimes the reason for halitosis is as easy as discovering that there are conditions or medications that have been taken that have caused a reduction in salivation or that have promoted masticatory inactivity which both favor production of fetid breath.

Part of making the diagnosis is to discover what the individual's present oral hygiene consists of since oral hygiene is the key to preventing halitosis and may very well be the cause of the halitosis if oral care is lacking in any way. The individual will ask about method of tooth brushing, if flossing or tongue cleaning is being done. The individual may be asked to demonstrate how these tasks are performed in case technique needs to be improved upon.