Less Common Causes of Bad Breath Bad breath can and does happen for all sorts of reasons, but it can also happen for less common reasons, mostly medical and health reasons. If you already know about the usual ones, then you will want to continue reading below for the more serious less common reasons as well. If you suspect that you have one of the issues discussed here you may want to reach out to a top dentist in Livingston for a consultation and treatment plan. A top dentist in Livingston will be able to examine you and determine the cause of your bad breath as well as suggest treatments.
Acid Reflux Unlike a lot of other common issues that occur inside the mouth, this one happens outside of the mouth. GERD can definitely contribute to bad breath. In some people, when they have GERD for example, the food doesn’t move out of the stomach, it just sits there and it begins to decay and rot away. A lot of the times THAT alone can contribute to bad breath in GERD sufferers. Another reason why acid reflux or GERD can cause issues with bad breath is because some people actually dispel a tiny bit of undigested food which can cause bad breath as well. If you have GERD or GERD symptoms, many times a dentist is the one that can look into your mouth and throat to see if you have any issues in the lining of your throat like inflammation for example. They can also look at your teeth and might see a type of acid erosion that is by far and wide abnormal. If a dentist notices these things, they will tell you to visit your family doctor or a specialist for the issue. Sinus Infection
If you’ve never had a sinus infection – be glad! These not only cause bad breath which we will be talking more about, but they are painful, frustrating, annoying, and just plain aggravating to have. Sinus infections also known as sinusitis will cause your sinuses to become inflamed. When this happens the mucous inside the nose and nasal passages stops moving and circulating. When this happen it begins to build up inside your nasal passages and bacteria begins to grow in this rich environment – its perfect for bacteria to multiply into something chaotic. This bacteria is what causes the bad breath and foul odor that comes from your nose and mouth. Sinus infections can be caused by all sorts of things like smoking, tooth infections and even allergies and colds.
Kidney Failure If you think fishy breath only comes from eating fishy foods or fish oil, you are wrong. It can also come from kidney failure weird enough. Essentially our kidneys are the organs that are responsible for removing harmful chemicals from the blood by creating what you and I know, as urine. But, when you have kidney failure or a kidney disease and it’s in its last few stages, the kidneys inside the body can become so damaged that they no longer work correctly and cannot filter waste products and chemicals when they come down through the blood. When something like this happens, all of that dangerous waste, bile and chemicals will actually build up inside of the body and can cause that fishy urine like smell to come
from your breath. Lung Cancer It’s sort of amazing how the body works sometimes, how it chimes us in on our own health issues and lung cancer is no different. While a pathologist will do biopsies and tests to see if you have lung cancer or not, some people say that breath tests are a close enough way to diagnose lung cancer as well, and they are cheaper and non-invasive according to a study done in 2013. Researchers from the Uspecialist of Latvia did a research study wherein they collected breath samples from 475 test subjects. Among those test subjects the researchers found that the non smokers with lung cancer was quite accurate – 128 lung cancer patients were identified and only 5 were misdiagnosed. On the other hand, 114 people with lung cancer and those who DID smoke only 5 were misdiagnosed. So it’s not a fail safe or anything like that, but it was darn close to replicating what education and devices doctors use to find out about cancer patients. All of these issues can and will probably cause breath issues. Even something as serious as lung cancer can cause bad breath. This is why when you have bad breath sometimes it’s not always about that garlic pasta you had the night before – especially if it’s an ongoing issue. Make sure that you DO see someone about your bad breath, whether it be a dentist who can then move you onto a doctor or a specialist, or if you skip the dentist entirely because you are worried and go straight to the doctors.