Your Mouth, Your Health

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I welcome you all to my blogging page today great steemians.
Yesterday I went for an event which I was invited as a guest. While sitting, a young man came and sat beside me, but guess what! I felt so uncomfortable by the time the man opened his mouth to talk. The kind of odour that came out from him was disgusting and that's what prompted me to talk on this important topic. Seat back and enjoy the ride with me.

Halitosis also known as Oral malodour or bad breath is one of the common reason patient visit hospital to consult dentist. Studies has revealed that 1/3 of global population is being affected by halitosis.

Halitosis in a simple term is defined as an offensive odour generating from the mouth or the nose which is not palatable. General overview of halitosis has a large effect on economy, and social impact on majority of people suffering from the diseases, because it causes low self-esteem, embarrassment, stigmatization, and in some cases, suicidal attempt.

Causes of Halitosis

On like some other diseases which their causes couldn’t be traced, halitosis’ source on the other hand is within the mouth or associated with some underlying systemic conditions. Breath is generated from the lungs and exhaled via the larynx, nose, bronchi or mouth. Fact shows that 90% of patient with halitosis is caused or emanating from the mouth.

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The main cause of halitosis is periodontitis and tongue coating.
However, in some cases, extra-oral causes can be seen which may include diseases that are systemic in nature, such as Bronchial carcinoma, Renal insufficiency, Diabetes Mellitus etc.

Classification of halitosis

True halitosis (Genuine halitosis): this is a condition whereby patient believes they have halitosis or malodour but in a real sense it doesn’t exist.

Halitophobia: in this case patients still have the notion that they still have halitosis after being treated.

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Etiology/Predisposing factors

Factors associated to halitosis can be classified into two;

• Local factor constitutes 90%
• Systemic factors constitute 10%
  Local factors could be pathological or physiological. Physiological factors which includes: food packing-onions, meat, beans, hunger, dehydration, menstruation, lack of saliva flow during sleep etc.

Whereas pathological factors include infections such as Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis, Periodontal abscess, Dental calculus etc, which are disorders of oral cavity.

Diagnosis

In other to diagnose this disease, a lot of investigations need to be carried out to establish it presence and these are; medical history and medication of the patient, his dental history, timing of bad breath, and also evaluation of breath.

Questions like, how often the patient brushes, how often polishing and scaling is done by the patient, and the use of mouth rinses should also be asked.

Treatment
In the area of treatment, halitosis types, and causes is a determinant on which treatment method to use. But generally, below steps could be used if a case of halitosis has been established.

• Halt offending agent
• The use of antibacterial mouth rinses should be administered e.g chlorohexidine
• Proper education and counseling should be done
• Scaling and polishing the teeth
• Tongue scraping
• Plague control and flossing should be done

Prevention

It has always been said that prevention is better than cure.

Let us take our oral hygiene serious by avoiding taking alcohol substances, brushing at least two times a day, avoiding sugary intake, avoid smoking, and regular dental check-up. Remember, health is wealth.

I believe we all learn from this little piece….

Thanks for reading through.

References:

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