Detecting Bad Breath

How do you know when you have bad breath? Unfortunately, halitosis is a problem that most sufferers are unaware of. Because of the social stigma associated with bad breath, those who are aware of others’ bad breath often hesitate to say anything to the person suffering from it.

There’s a common misconception that bad breath was “invented” in the 20th Century by advertisers who were creating a demand for halitosis products. Bad breath has deep historical roots though; there are numerous references to bad breath in both the Bible and the Koran.

Determining whether breath is bad is a very subjective question. There are numerous studies in which researchers create a number of criteria to define bad breath, but when the human nose is the instrument for measurement, the results are often not completely reliable.

Detecting and measuring bad breath in an objective and systematic ways has only been the subject of serious scientific research for the past half century. As our knowledge of medicine and medical technology increases, so too does our ability to measure bad breath.

Over the past few years, medical technology has provided some ways to measure bad breath. Most bad breath is caused by sulfur-based gasses originating in the mouth. Gas chromatology is one method of analyzing a number of different gasses, but it’s very expensive and is usually only used for scientific research. Another device called a Halimeter works great for measuring sulphides, but not the other gasses that can be involved in bad breath.

There’s good news on the technological horizon though. A German firm recently announced the development of a cell phone equipped with a chip that can measure gasses that produce bad breath in a manner similar to the Halimeter.

Modern technology has also brought forth a much less scientific way to detect bad breath. There are now services available through the internet that allows a concerned friend (or enemy for that matter) to send an anonymous e-mail informing a halitosis sufferer of their condition.

Figuring out that the problem exists is only half the battle, but it’s a crucial part of it. The more we understand the biology of halitosis, the closer we come to long-term solutions.