bad breath, mouth rot, halitosis, foetuses ex ore, dental diseasesThe sense of smell of humans is very limited compared to animals. While mammals orientate themselves by their sense of smell, humans perceive their environment more by sight. However, smell also plays a role in human relationships.
A proof is the saying: “They cannot smell each other” for two people who find each other unsympathetic. In addition to the smell of sweat, bad breath is also perceived as unpleasant and foul-smelling. However, the person who causes it often does not notice it and the other people are usually afraid to tell it.
The term bad breath is generally understood to mean the discharge of foul-smelling breath from the oral cavity. Those affected describe the occurrence of bad breath as extremely annoying, most even find it embarrassing. Bad smelling breath is a problem that affects men and women equally.
In many cases, the development of bad breath can be observed somewhat more frequently in older people than in young people. Although the sense of smell plays a rather subordinate role in humans and vision seems to be the primary sense, unpleasant body odors, such as bad breath, can be repulsive to other people. Rather subconsciously running processes control for example the choice of the ideal partner. The smell of the other person also plays a major role in these processes. In the society sayings like: ” Not being able to smell oneself” support this thesis.
Causes
The development of bad breath can be caused by many different factors. In general, so-called systemic and local causes for the occurrence of the bad smell are possible.
Development mechanisms of bad breath
How bad breath develops, which is perceived as unpleasant and increasingly embarrassing, depends primarily on the respective cause. For this reason, the type and scent of bad breath also varies from disease to disease. The American chemist Linus Paulinger (1901- 1994) examined in a study several hundred breath samples of patients, who suffer from bad breath.
He succeeded in detecting up to 200 different compounds in these samples, which are mixed with the exhaled air. Nowadays, up to 3000 different compounds are assumed to be present. These are mainly chemical compounds containing sulfur and nitrogen (for example ketones and ammonia). It is assumed that these compounds are metabolic end products (excretions) of bacteria.
