DIAGNOSING HALITOSIS

The specific odor of breath can vary depending on the cause of the problem.

It is best to ask a close friend or relative to gauge your mouth odor as it is very difficult to assess it yourself.

If no one is to hand, one way of checking the odor is to lick your wrist, leave it to dry and then smell it. If it smells bad, there is a strong chance your breath also smells bad.

Or preferably, scrape the surface of your tongue with a tongue scrapper, allow to dry and smell it.

There are a variety of sophisticated detectors that can rate odor more precisely, they include the following:

Halimeter: detects low levels of sulfur

Gas chromatography: measures three volatile sulfur compunds - hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulfide

BANA test: measures for a specific enzyme produced by halitosis-causing bacteria

Beta-galactosidase test: levels of the enzyme beta-galactosidase have been found to correlate with mouth odor

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Don’t hesitate to contact me for further clarification, 

Dr. Odeyemi Kolade Project Smile 32 Senior facilitator 

 0906-1999-927.