Jeff
Hello Everyone! Listen carefully and save yourself a lot of money! I have had this problem for years. Tried everything under the sun and spent a fortune. First of all, I'm not a doctor! Just take some time to read this. The key to this problem is whether you have CHRONIC halitosis, not just bad breath occasionally. People can tell you all day long that you have to brush your tongue or use a tongue-scraper but, while that CERTAINLY helps to some degree, CHRONIC halitosis sufferers will find it is only temporary at best. Chewing parsley or rinsing your mouth with baking soda (or whatever) won't help the CHRONIC halitosis sufferer either (although both probably help occasional bad breath). The problem is the bacteria on the back of your tongue as most sufferers who have studied their problem already know. This bacteria truly does not like oxygen as has been often reported. So, all these bad-breath-cure companies sell so-called "oxygenating" products to kill the bacteria. Well, they can and do work, but only very temporarily (as little as an hour for most in my experience, if at all). I also tried the 2-stage non-alcohol mouthwashes available and they worked better and for a longer period of time then the so-called oxygenating products but the improvement was again only temporary (sometimes no improvement at all and sometimes up to a couple of hours - hardly good enough to get me through a work day). I can brush my teeth, brush/scrape my tongue, rinse my mouth and STILL have bad halitosis! Interestingly, rinsing my mouth with water several times every hour seemed to be as effective as some of the halitosis-cure products I have tried!! This is because plain ol' water moistens the mouth (obviously) reversing the effects of mouth-breathing which dries the mouth creating an environment in which the bacteria is "happier". Unfortunately, any positive effects from drinking or rinsing the mouth with water are very short-lived: only a few minutes. Alcohol dries the mouth and multiplies the problem: this is why traditional mouthwashes don't work as they contain alcohol. In fact, when I used the traditional super-market mouth-washes, the problem got worse! Sugar immediately made my problem worse also: a soda pop is out of the question and even fruit is a definate contributing factor. Interestingly, eating rice also made my problem worse! All of these seem to "feed" the bacteria. I suspect dairy products feed the bacteria also but that may not be the case for everyone. Other factors which may be the root of your halitosis are: whether you have tonsils removed (as tonsils seem to clog up with nasty smelling stuff), whether you have poor dental hygiene, or whether you have some medical condition. If none of these apply, then I have come to the conclusion that my halitosis is from something else. That something else is chronic allergies causing my nose to be slightly stuffed and post nasal drip. YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE YOUR NASAL PASSAGES ARE SLIGHLY CONSTRICTED OR THAT YOU ARE A "MOUTH-BREATHER". Because my nose is always slightly stuffy, I tend to breath through my mouth or partly through my mouth. This results in a build-up of nasty bacteria in the nasal passages. This bacteria apparantly does not like oxygen as I wrote above, and thrives and multiplies in constricted nasal passages. Some people have wrote/posted messages indicating that while on antibiotics, their halitosis problem has gone away only to return. I believe this is because the antibiotics reduce swelling of the nasal passages allowing for clear nose-breathing. I have heard about nasal cleansing procedures but also have heard they don't work, or that they don't work for very long. That is because your nasal passages just swell up again from whatever allergy you may have. Eliminating the allergy may sound like a simple solution but it's not for me, as I have many allergies. Allergies also cause post-nasal drip. The bacteria on the back of your tongue feed on this making the problem worse. Post nasal-drip also can give you a sore throat and a build-up of phlegm (or however you spell it). This phlegm apparently feeds the bacteria. I am nearly at my wits end looking for a "cure" for my chronic halitosis. I am going to try one more product. It is from a company in Australia. It apparently helps to reduce the swelling in the nasal passage allowing for clear breathing. They claim to be completely safe and they also claim to be effective (don't they all though!). The product is called: Breeze Nasal Wash. I don't have their email address so you will have to search the internet for them using their product name as search key-words. I hope this rambling helps someone with this terrible problem! Good luck!