Tonsil Stones Stink Up Your Breath

Tonsil Stones Stink up your Breath

Tonsil stones (tonsilloliths) form when mucus, sulfur-producing bacteria, and debris from food particles and post-nasal drip, to name a few, accumulate and condense into small particles. These then collect on the surface of your tonsils. The mucus that normally drips down the back of your throat is very thin and mostly goes unnoticed. However, if it becomes thick, it can get trapped behind your tonsils and that will then create what is known as tonsil stones.

The physical appearance of the tonsils includes small pits or tonsil chambers that retain and trap debris. The trapped debris melds with volatile sulfur compounds, which are produced by anaerobic bacteria beneath the surface of your tongue and decays in the back of your throat. The resulting tonsil stones or tonsilloliths are expelled when the volume of the stones exceed the capacity of the chamber in which it is contained.

The residual effects of tonsil stones (tonsilloliths) often include one or more of the following:

Hard, whitish or yellow, foul-smelling particles that can be coughed up

Chronic halitosis and other stubborn bad breath and taste disorders

Thick, white coating on your tongue

A radical, but sure method to rid oneself of tonsil stones (tonsilloliths) is to undergo a tonsillectomy. However, you may want to explore additional options first. As you get older, tonsil removal becomes increasingly dangerous and painful. In addition, if you are suffering from chronic halitosis (bad breath) along with tonsil stones (tonsilloliths), you will most likely still have bad breath! The reason for that is due to the sulfur-producing bacteria.The sulfur-producing bacteria breeding beneath the surface of your tongue (which is a prime ingredient for the creation of tonsilloliths) are also the most likely prospects to cause bad breath. Is there anything that can be done?

Most everyone has suffered from an occasional case of bad breath at one time or another. A few unfortunate people suffer from chronic bad breath. For these people, there never seems to be an escape from the noxious odor that follows them with each conversation and social engagement they encounter. Is there a primary cause of bad breath (halitosis)?

As with all living beings, people have a smorgasbord of other organisms that live in or on them in a constant balance of life. This is a natural part of life and cannot be escaped. In the case of bad breath (halitosis), the primary cause is the bacterium that ordinarily occurs within our mouth; or more specifically, the waste matter these bacteria create from their normal biological life. Our body plays host to billions of bacteria, and the majority of them are beneficial. There are bacteria in our stomach, which aid food digestion, there are helpful bacteria on our skin, which protect us against other harmful bacteria, and there are bacteria that just love the environment of our mouth. This last type is called anaerobic bacteria.

Anaerobic bacteria thrive in an environment that is deprived of oxygen. The anaerobic bacteria find many places to live within our mouth. They love the back of the tongue and under the gum line, in between the teeth is a great place for them. If you have a thin film anywhere in your oral cavity, you will find them there also. As anaerobic bacteria digest proteins, they leave behind waste products and these waste products are the cause of bad breath (halitosis).

There is nothing you can do about the fact that our mouth is alive with bacteria. However it is important to make the environment for anaerobic bacteria as undesirable as possible so as to help eliminate the cause of bad breath odor. Along with this would be the obvious proper oral care, which would enhance the possibility of your breath smelling sweet as opposed to, vulgar.

When the debris combines with the Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSC) produced by the anaerobic bacteria, you will see the sulfur-producing bacteria multiplying beneath the surface of your tongue. This process is essential to the creation of tonsil stones (tonsillitis) and is the most likely contributors in causing breath. So, even if you have your tonsils removed, unless you remove or hinder these anaerobic bacteria, you may still be fighting the battle against bad breath (halitosis).