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Bad Breath and the Battle of Bacteria
(HealthScoutNews)
-- Do you have bad breath, really bad breath?
It might not be the garlic or onions,
coffee or alcohol.
Rather, a new study links it to
the types of bacteria that dominate the back portion of the top
of your tongue.
Some bacteria protect against halitosis,
the formal name for really bad breath, while others cause the
pungent odor, says a team of researchers from The Forsyth Institute
in Boston and the University of Michigan School of Dentistry.
"I think there's a definite
smoking gun here -- that it's a strong association," says
lead researcher Bruce Paster, a senior staff member at Forsyth.
"There are the good bacteria and the bad ones. Normal bacteria
keep out bacteria from the bad guys."
The study, reported in the February
issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, relied on
gene sequencing to compare bacteria found on the tongues of those
with halitosis and those with fresh breath.
Researchers reported species of
the same three bacteria were prevalent among five people with
fresh breath. The most common of these germs found on these subjects'
tongues, Streptococcus salivarius, appeared in only one
of six people with halitosis -- and at extremely low levels.
About 65 million Americans suffer
from halitosis at some point in their lives, the National Institute
of Dental Research has estimated. Halitosis differs from the temporary
mouth odors caused by foods or drinks.
Six species of bacteria were linked
to halitosis, and several of those germs were not found in those
with fresh breath.
The study is part of an ongoing
effort to determine genetic sequences for all species of bacteria
in the oral cavity. Paster says that the results have been confirmed
by still-unreported research involving a larger group of people
and adds that forthcoming research will look into possible treatment
for halitosis.
Differences in bacteria in people's
mouths -- and, in turn, why stinky sulphurous bacteria is so prevalent
in halitosis sufferers -- could be the result of a variety of
factors, including blood type, Paster says.
"I think it's a case where
it's clear that with these people who have halitosis, something
makes these types of bacteria more likely to colonize than ones
that colonize normal tongues," he says.
However, uncovering all the bugs
responsible for good and bad breath could be a daunting task.
About 75 to 100 different kinds
of germs live in each person's mouth -- of a total of 700 that
collectively populate all human mouths, Paster says. Of these,
scientists know the names of only about 300.
You have more bacteria in your
mouth than cells in your body, says Paster, and a toothpick plaque
sample would hold 10 million to 100 million cells.
The researchers reported finding
just 92 species of bacteria, 29 of which had never before been
described in scientific literature. So other bugs could be responsible
for good breath and bad, Paster says.
He suggests you could help reduce
halitosis by brushing not only the teeth, but also the tongue,
twice daily, along with scraping the tongue and using oral care
products containing zinc.
Dr. Israel Kleinberg, chairman
of the oral biology and pathology department at the State University
of New York at Stony Brook's dental school, says the study shows
how different bacteria in the mouth help determine whether bugs
conducive to good or bad breath thrive.
He likened these variations to
differences in climates where different types of vegetation grow.
"There are environmental differences that can be selective"
in the mouth, too, Israel says. "It's the environment that
ends up selecting the bacteria. So if you want to do something
about it, you want to try to shift that environment."
And what of mouthwashes that promise
to kill bacteria that cause bad breath?
"You can try to kill bacteria,
but by and large, the bacteria grow back," Kleinberg says.
"Most of the effort is toward killing bacteria, and killing
bacteria is not terribly effective in most cases."
More information
For more on halitosis, visit the
American
Dental Association or the The
Wisdom Tooth site at the School of Dental Hygiene at the University
of Manitoba.
Reference
Source 101
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
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