By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Phil_Peters]Phil Peters
For most people, if you have bad breath there is usually a very easy treatment solution. If you simply pay more attention to the effectiveness with which you clean your mouth, in most cases your bad breath will be cured.
Of course, the devil is in the details. Effective oral cleansing, while not really difficult, does take effort. And in order to be effective, one's cleaning regimen must include both diligent brushing and flossing, as well as tongue cleaning (either scraping or brushing). Effective tongue cleaning plays an especially important role in the treatment of bad breath.
The proven effectiveness of diligent dental home care as a cure for bad breath is founded on the following. Research has shown that most cases of halitosis are oral in origin. They are due to the presence of odiferous sulfur compounds found in a person's breath that have been produced by oral bacteria. The idea is that if the number of the offending bacteria can be reduced, dramatically, then the level of smelly sulfur compounds found in that person's breath will be significantly reduced too. The net result being a corresponding improvement in the quality of the person's breath.
Now, even though the first step everyone suffering from a breath problem should always take is improved oral home care (with special emphasis on effective tongue cleaning), there will be cases where this approach by itself will not be sufficient. This is because there can be other causes of bad breath. These cases will be fewer in number than those cases where improved oral home care on its own will be cure enough but they do exist. And in order to resolve these cases, different treatment approaches must be used.
The specific treatment needed to resolve any one person's oral malodor will need to vary due to the different originating causes this type of problem can have. This means that before a dentist can treat a patient they must first categorize the type of halitosis their patient has. Towards this goal, dental professionals have devised the following classification system as a way of categorizing types of bad breath.
1) Genuine halitosis and its subclassifications:
Genuine halitosis - This refers to cases where the person's bad breath is readily identifiable (either by smell testing or testing with a scientific apparatus designed to identify and quantify halitosis). The category genuine halitosis is subdivided into the following classifications.
Genuine halitosis >> Physiologic halitosis - This is the type of bad breath that most people suffer from and is the type of malodor, as discussed above, that can typically be resolved just by making an improvement in the persons oral home care activities (brushing, flossing and especially tongue cleaning).
Genuine halitosis >> Pathologic halitosis - This subclassification refers to those cases of genuine halitosis that are a caused by or associated with a disease process or other pathological condition. Pathologic halitosis is in turn subdivided into the following two categories.
Genuine halitosis >> Pathologic halitosis >> Oral pathologic halitosis - This category is composed of those cases where the underlying cause of the person's bad breath is caused by or associated with a disease process or condition that involves tissues of the mouth. In most instances this disease process will be periodontal disease (gum disease). Improved oral home care (brushing, flossing, tongue cleaning) can be expected to play an important role in getting this type of bad breath problem under control but the patient will also need professional dental care (cleanings, gum surgery) to treat their underlying condition before a complete resolution of their breath malodor can be expected to occur.
Genuine halitosis >> Pathologic halitosis >> Extraoral pathologic halitosis - These cases of bad breath are those where the malodor is caused by an underlying disease state associated with a part of the body other than the mouth. Improved oral home care may be able to make some improvement in the quality of the breath of these people. But ultimately the patient must be treated by a physician or medical specialist for their underlying medical condition before total resolution will occur.
2) Pseudo-halitosis.
Pseudo-halitosis refers to those situations where a patient feels that they have bad breath but in reality they do not. (The diagnosis of not having bad breath being made by smell testing or else by testing with scientific equipment capable of identifying and quantifying the compounds associated with bad breath.) Since halitosis does not exist, the patient's treatment consists of counseling about their misconception.
3) Halitophobia.
Halitophobia refers to cases where a patient has received appropriate treatment for the type of bad breath they have suffered with, yet they continue to believe that their halitosis exists. This category includes both patients that have had cases of genuine halitosis that have been successfully treated and patients that have pseudo-halitosis who continue to believe that they have bad breath even after receiving counseling. Cases of halitophobia need to be treated by a medical professional who can provide an appropriate approach to psychological counseling.
Phil Peters is a staff writer for Animated-Teeth.com and has written their pages on the subject of [http://www.animated-teeth.com/bad_breath/t1_halitosis.htm]Bad Breath / Halitosis You can find out more information about [http://www.animated-teeth.com/bad_breath/t-bad-breath-types.htm]types of bad breath on Animated-Teeth.com.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Right-Cure-For-Your-Halitosis-Depends-on-the-Type-of-Bad-Breath-That-You-Have&id=1606367] The Right Cure For Your Halitosis Depends on the Type of Bad Breath That You Have
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