I have had halitosis for a couple of months now. I brush my teeth well after every meal, and I floss once a day. I sometimes even brush my tongue. I think the bad breath is coming from deep inside my mouth, like from my throat or tonsils. Should I go see a specialist for this? If so, should I see a dentist or a doctor?

I'm not sure if you really need a specialist just yet. Make an appointment with your regular doctor. S/he will probably do a throat culture and other tests to try to diagnose the problem.

how do you rell some one abouth thre breathe with out being mean ?

Hi Sehsun,

About two years ago, I developed really bad halitosis. The worst part was when I woke up in the morning, my morning breath tasted so bad it was all I could do to run down to the bathroom to brush my teeth as fast as I could. And then it seemed like not more than an hour later, it would come back. I tried brushing numerous times a day, flossing more, scraping my tongue, mouthwash, nothing worked.

Like you, the bad taste/smell felt like it was coming from the back of my mouth, not something that was left over from eating. Pretty soon after noticing this halitosis, I began having difficulty swallowing. I couldn't swallow my food. I thought I must not be chewing my food enough, so I tried to chew my food until it was completely mashed and then swallow, and then helped a teeny bit, but not really.

About that time, after staring into my mouth to try to figure out what was going on, I discovered that my tonsils were HUGE in the back of my throat. So huge that they were actually TOUCHING each other in my mouth. This is why I was having difficulty swallowing! My tonsils were actually blocking the food from going down my throat. I determined this is also why I was having sleeping problems, waking up with dry mouth every couple of hours because these huge tonsils were also blocking my air passage when I layed down.

I went to the doctor. They tested for all sorts of viruses, strep, etc. I was clear for everything, I had no sickness. They made me try three different kinds of drugs to reduce the size of my tonsils, nothing worked.

Finally, I was able to get surgery scheduled to get my tonsils removed. It was Extremely Painful. I can honestly say the worse pain I have ever felt in my life ( and I have had a few surgeries ).

The DAY I got my tonsils out, I noticed I could breathe better, not only when I layed down, but also when standing up. I almost felt like I was getting too much air!, but that was only because I must have gotten used to the reduced airflow, I hadn't even realized that had become a problem.

My horrible halitosis was cured immediately upon getting my tonsils removed. I wake up in the morning and I wouldn't say I have fresh breath, but I don't really have bad breath either, a HUGE change from before. It is so nice to be able to wake up in the morning without horrible breath!

Sehsun,

I also forgot to say that you need to see a doctor, not a dentist, if you suspect there is a problem with your tonsils.

I have not had a problem with bad breath since my tonsillectomy.