Bad Breath it's not Just Embarrassing

Bad breath can be a sign of physical illness, doctor says

While bad breath can indicate poor dental hygiene, it can also indicate physical illness, an ear, nose and throat doctor said yesterday.

Liu Po-jen (劉博仁), director of Cheng Ching Hospital’s Otorhinolaryngology Department, said a 20-year-old woman recently visited him, but refused to speak when he asked her what brought her to the hospital. Instead, she gave him a note that read: “I have bad breath.”

“The young woman later confided that the embarrassing problem had deterred her from having a boyfriend, worrying that men might be repelled by her breath,” Liu said.

After a thorough examination, Liu said he was able to identify an inflamed right tonsil and tonsil stones as the source of her halitosis.

“The crypt of the patient’s right tonsil was rather deep, making it more likely for food debris to accumulate in it and for her to develop tonsil stones, one of the conditions that can cause bad breath,” Liu said.

The woman later had her right tonsil removed to put a permanent end to the problem.

Is This Method Right For You?

Light-accelerated Bleaching Is a Teeth Whitening Treatment

Light-accelerated bleaching is newer type of treatment for tooth whitening. It has to be done by a dentist who has been trained in how to use a laser for cosmetic dentistry. During a light-accelerated bleaching treatment the dentist will first spread a peroxide based gel on your teeth. The gel will sit on your teeth for around 15 or 20 minutes. Then the dentist will use a laser to accelerate the whitening process by activating minerals within the gel that is on your teeth. The results can be very dramatic, because the use of the laser can whiten teeth up to 11 shades. People like this procedure because it's relatively quick, it only has to be done once, and there are very noticeable results. But there are some concerns about light-accelerated tooth whitening that mean you should think carefully about it before you make an appointment.

Concerns About Light-Accelerated Bleaching

Dental treatment to children to improve dental health

A team at a Solihull dentists is jetting off to Morocco to improve the dental health of children in underprivileged areas.

Staff at Health Dental are supporting charity Dental Mavericks, which works to offer dental treatment to children in deprived areas of the world.