Bad breath can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'very minor' to 'life-threatening'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose bad breath, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Cigarette Smoke Damage | 93% | Confirm |
Mercury Toxicity | 57% | Possible |
Tonsil Stones | 25% | Unlikely |
Stomach Ulcers | 0% | Ruled out |
Low Carbohydrate Diet Consequences | 0% | Ruled out |
General Toxicity | 0% | Ruled out |
Do you have bad breath?
Possible responses:
→ No / don't know→ Occasionally, minor → Often minor or occasionally moderate → Often moderate or occasionally very bad → Often very bad |
The acetone resulting from a state of ketosis escapes through the lungs – giving Atkins Diet followers, for example, what one weight-loss expert calls "rotten-apple breath." [Health 19 (1996): p.102] The other ketones have to be excreted by the kidneys. In a study funded by Dr. Atkins himself, most of the people that could stick with the diet reported headaches and halitosis (bad breath).
A medical study conducted in 2007 found a strong association between tonsilloliths and bad breath. Among those with bad breath, 75% of the subjects had tonsilloliths while only 6% of subjects with normal breath had tonsilloliths.