She is also a clinical instructor at University of Pacific School of Dentistry and an editor for Dentistry On-Line. Some research has been completed but we still have much to learn about the causes and treatments of halitosis. There are actually several different sources of oral malodor. These include mouth and tongue sources, nasal and sinus sources, lower respiratory tract and lung sources, gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, systemic diseases, and ingestion of certain foods, fluids, and medications. The first challenge is to determine if a patient has chronic or acute bad breath.
Chronic halitosis occurs all the time.
If all these conditions are eliminated and halitosis remains, I would next suspect bacteria as the cause. The VSCs can cause bad breath. I advise all my patients to gently brush their teeth, tongue and palate. Several companies market tongue scrapers. At first, I thought these devices were just a sales gimmick.