Case Study 5 - Bad Breath Wrong Diagnosis
Here is an interesting case that we often see at Dr Speiser's Australian Breath Clinic. Sandy has always complained about her bad breath, but apparently no one else was able to smell it at the same intense level that she could. Feeling stupid about the situation she tried self treatment first by using store bought mouthwash and toothpaste that was advertised on television and widely accepted around the world as being a good treatment for bad breath.

However this method of treatment made her problem worse as the mouthwash was high in alcohol and acid, two known causes of bad breath, and the toothpaste contained a surfactant that can cause allergies in 5% of the female population. Sandy was later to resort to our clinic that using these commercially bought products only gave her relief for 30 minutes from her bad breath problem.

Sandy feeling very frustrated then visited her local doctor who also could not smell any breath problem. After hearing Sandy's story the doctor felt that there was a deeper psychological problem and prescribed a course of anti depressant medication. Again Sandy's problem took a turn for the worse as medicines often increase the dryness in the mouth and thus the bad breath problem.

In desperation Sandy attended our Australian Breath Clinic in a very depressed state. As you can see her initial readings were quite normal for hydrogen sulphide but were above acceptable levels for methyl mercaptan and Dimethyl sulphide. This characteristic pattern allowed us to diagnose an ongoing periodontal (gum) condition as well as thickened nasal mucous. Actually intense quizzing of Sandy's complaint brought out that Sandy had a continual bad taste in her mouth and occasionally she could smell her own breath whilst talking. Both these symptoms are synonymous with moderate levels of nose and gum gases. The gum condition was further confirmed by checking for a specific enzyme that lives in the gum pockets of periodontal patients. This is a chair side test that involves taking a scraping from the gums and tongue surface and incubating the samples for 15 minutes in a special test mixture. The three main bacteria in gum disease all possess a specific enzyme that is not found in other mouth bacteria, so a positive result is indicative of diseased tissue.

Once again Sandy was placed on the KForce Breath Guard Starter Kit as well as isotonic saline nasal sprays for both morning and night. A thorough clean by her dentist was also recommended. When Sandy returned in 4 weeks her new readings were an amazing improvement. All three gases were now within normal limits, and Sandy's awful mouth taste had disappeared. Also Sandy now reports she no longer smells her breath whilst she talks.

It is important to remember, that readings just above average or just below average can give mixed signals to a healthcare professional. Only readings taken with Gas Chromography are able to accurately track the gas levels of bad breath so that accurate treatment can be undertaken.