Zapping Tonsil-Stones with Lasers

The consensus among those who endeavor to treat the problem of chronic halitosis is that bread breath can in different cases be attributed to different causes. One that is particularly intractable without medical intervention, however, is the phenomenon of tonsil tones – smelly nodules which form on the tonsils.

I have written about tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths here previously, and those posts remain in the “top ten most-hit” category (post1, post2) up to the present. Therefore, I thought this article timely and pertinent:

A New York doctor pioneers a remedy to zap bad breath with a laser

Sadeta Velovic’s breath stunk.

It was so bad, people moved away from her when she spoke. Her own mother complained about the rotten stench. Even Velovic, herself, could smell the foul odor upon waking in the morning.

“Nobody wanted to be near that smell,” recalls the 40-year-old Ridgewood, Queens, resident, who works in building maintenance. “I felt so bad, but I didn’t know what to do. I kept going to doctors, but they didn’t help…”

Read more

Stinky Jobs

CNN.com/Living has posted a list, via careerbuilder.com, of 20 “offbeat jobs.” Several of these jobs involve stench in one form or another, and therefore interest us here at Things That Stink:

Breath odor evaluator

Job description: Sniff morning breath, coffee-breath, garlic breath, etc. Rate breath. Stinky subject then uses breath freshening product, odor-evaluator sniffs breath again and rates it a second time.

Flatulence smell-reduction underwear maker

Job description: Fashion special undies with built in filters to capture various noxious butt-gases (hydrogen sulfide, most notably). Worn by people with gastrointestinal problems.

Dog-breath evaluator

Job description: Sniff dog’s breath in order to evaluate effect of dog’s diet on his chops-stench. Ratings: 1-10 (10 being worst) with additional categories of sweaty, salty, musty, fungal or decaying.

Porta-potty servicer

Job description: Pretty much self-explanatory. But I betcha they find some nasty shit, both literally and figuratively, inside those stinky little booths.

See the entire list at CNN.com

Halitosis Detector

Official blurb: “This bad breath meter measures the four escalating stages of unfreshness.”

Uncle Stinky’s Blurb: Happy face = happy breath; frowney face = buttbreath

It can be purchased at restorationhardware.com, for $10.99 USD

Garlic Stinks

But we love it.

“The Stinking Rose” restaurant, with two locations in California, is devoted exclusively to that ubiquitous and pungent member of the lily family. Next time I’m in San Francisco (it’s been years), I might just check it out.

Probably not the best choice for a first date, though.

Tonsilloliths, Part 2

Site stats indicate an overwhelming interest in my earlier post about the odoriferous oral phenomenon of “tonsilloliths,” more commonly known as “tonsil stones,” so as a public service, I’ll direct you to a site specifically devoted to the subject–

TonsilStones.net

“Geek Stink Breath”

Quickcare.org describes how methamphetamine causes halitosis–

How does methamphetamine cause bad breath?

Methamphetamines increase the acid content of stomach fluids and saliva. The acid damages the teeth, which can lead to bad breath. It also decreases the amount of saliva in the mouth. Dry mouth can cause bad breath.

How else can methamphetamine cause bad breath? Meth users tend to grind their teeth and they also crave sugar. Grinding the teeth and eating excessive sweets leads to very poor condition of the teeth. Bad teeth tend to equal bad breath.

Can methamphetamine cause bad breath in other ways? It mainly causes bad breath by damaging the teeth. However, it is harmful to the whole body, and as it affects the internal organs, it can cause bad breath due to problems in the digestive tract as well.

Which leads us to the Green Day tune, “Geek Stink Breath”–

GEEK STINK BREATH

I’m on a mission
I made my decision
To lead a path of self destruction
A slow progression
Killing my complexion
And it’s rotting out my teeth

I’m on a roll
No self control
I’m blowing off steam with methamphetamine
Don’t know what I want
That’s all that I’ve got
And I’m picking scabs off my face

Tonsilloliths

A “tonsillolith,” commonly referred to as a “tonsil stone,” is a nodule that forms in back of the mouth, in the fissures of the tonsils. They are believed to be a composite of bacteria, particles of food, and deceased white blood cells. Analysis has disclosed high levels of sulfur, thus they usually have a pungent odor, which has been described by some as “concentrated” or “condensed halitosis.” When crushed, they are said to exude an odor like rotten eggs.

While a definite nuisance, tonsil stones are not known to be medically harmful. As for being socially damaging – well, that’s a whole different ball of…halitosis. I had a professor in college whose breath could be smelled across the room, and there was much discussion among the student body as to what was responsible for his chronic butt-breath. In retrospect, I now wonder if he might have been afflicted with tonsil stones.