Medical Questions » Mouth and Throat Questions » Question No. 686
| Question: | I have what can only be described at putrid breath. It is so embarrassing. I seem to have a permanent mouth full of peppermints or chewing gum to try and disguise it. I have tried everything without success. My mother had the same problem. What can I do? |
| Answer: | There is a wide range of diseases that can cause bad breath, and all these must be investigated and excluded. Dental disease is the most likely problem, so see your dentist before a doctor. Infections in the cracks between teeth, and the crevices where the teeth leave the gums can cause a constant foul breath.
Chronic nasal and sinus infections are another common cause, as is smoking and lung infections or diseases. Generalised infections of any sort can cause bad breath (halitosis) for a few weeks or months. Rarer causes run into the hundreds, but include pharyngeal pouches (an outpocketing of the lower part of the throat, which contains rotting food, and may be a characteristic passed from mother to son), gut infections or diseases, liver or kidney failure, diabetes (another inheritable cause), a nasal disease called ozaena, salivary gland diseases, dehydra-lion and dozens more.
Some medications, including lithium and griseofulvin (used for fungal infections) may cause bad breath.
See your GP again and again, and if you still have no success, ask him/her to refer you to both an ENT specialist and a general physician.
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