Select a question on the left to learn about bad breath and Halitosis.
Discover the Startling Facts About Bad Breath That Listerine, Scope, Colgate, and Crest Hope You NEVER Find Out!
Why sucking on mints and chewing gum doesn’t always work…
How normal commercial products can actually make the problem worse!
Why some people are cursed with chronic halitosis and others aren’t!
Note: The Information Below is the result of over 11 years of clinical research performed by Dr. Harold Katz at the California Breath Clinics. If you would like to learn how to control ANY breath problem and maintain superior oral health, then the excerpt below is required reading.
Dear Friend,
I would like to show YOU how you can prevent occasional, situational, or chronic bad breath in any situation, and maintain superior oral health for your gums, teeth, and mouth. Take a look at the following public perceptions listed below.
Do any of these situations seem familiar to you?
Unfortunately they are the most common public perceptions about bad breath:
“Well I like Sharon, but it’s
so hard to speak with her because her breath is terrible!”
“Well,
I really want to kiss her but I’m not sure if I can
stand her breath”
“Ugh,
how can someone take such poor care of their mouth?”
“Uh
oh – here’s comes Jim the bad breath guy!”
“Grandpa,
you have bad breath!”
I could go on and on, but in the society we live in today, it’s a sad but true fact that you are immediately judged by the first impression that you make! If you have bad breath – constantly or even occasionally, then you are being immediately prejudged by something that is not your fault! So it’s time to do something about it…
My name is Dr. Harold Katz, and I’ve been researching the causes, symptoms, and cures of bad breath for the last 11 years. In 1993, my own teenage daughter came to me – a Beverly Hills dentist with two degrees from UCLA (my DDS and a separate degree in Bacteriology) – and asked me to help her with her breath problem. Imagine my embarrassment when I didn’t know what to tell her. Me, her father (and a dentist at that!), unable to help my own daughter with a problem as ‘trivial’ as bad breath!
Trivial - or so I thought at the time…
You see, I realized that I had always had a subconscious ‘negative impression’ of people with bad breath. Almost like they were ‘unclean’. But when my own daughter developed the same problem it put things in a whole different perspective for me.
I KNEW my daughter had very good oral hygiene…. So why did she have bad breath?
Over the past 11 years I have personally seen more than 13,000 patients who paid upwards of $500 for a series of clinical treatments come through the California Breath Clinics. I’ve had people tell me that bad breath has made them depressed, like they had no friends. That it was affecting their love life, and caused them to be passed over for promotion. I’ve even had people tell me that were seriously contemplating suicide.
Now these are extreme cases of course – but they exist by the tens of thousands! And even if your case is not this extreme, no one wants to offend by having bad breath. Even if it’s something as simple as making sure your breath is fresh to prepare for that first passionate kiss, or holding your grandchild on your lap while laughing and joking – Nobody Wants To Have Bad Breath!
I’ve personally smelled more bad breath than any other doctor on this planet. Back in the ‘old days’ when I pioneered the clinical therapy that many of you may have seen on TV, I introduced the use of the Halimeter (the portable sulfide monitor that detects the levels of Volatile Sulfur Compounds in the breath). I would also test my patients breath by simply placing my nose in front of their mouth and asking them to exhale. (By the way, this was NOT one of the more pleasant aspects of my job!).
Typically, their breath would be worse early in the morning after waking up. Then after brushing, they may be fine for the next few hours, but as they progress throughout the day, that pungent smell will creep into their breath and begin to make people cringe.
What this unpleasant experience of smelling my patients breath taught me was that people who complained of halitosis fell into three different categories:
Situational
About 95% of the world population will be concerned about their breath at some time in their life. These people might be concerned after particularly satisfying meal full of garlic or onions, or maybe after a cigarette or a few alcoholic drinks (both of which are terrible for your breath!)
Occasional
A full 54% of those will fight a constant daily battle to keep their breath fresh throughout the day. They will use mints, gum, and sprays trying in vain to prevent occasional bad breath. For the most part they’ll be able to escape unnoticed, but when in a close, personal situation, or after eating certain foods it will become obvious to others that a breath freshener is needed. Typically their breath will worse early morning when waking up, then after brushing fine for the next few hours, but as they progress throughout the day, that pungent smell will creep into their breath and begin to make people cringe.
Chronic
Worldwide, about 27% of the population will experience chronic halitosis. Chronic Halitosis is defined as “a persistent, foul, fetid odor, emitted from the mouth and/or nose”. People with chronic halitosis usually have a problem but don’t know what to do about it. Most people with this disease have excellent oral hygiene – they may brush and floss 2-3 times per day. But it doesn’t make a difference….
It’s a well known fact that you can’t smell your own breath. Or is it….
Most people have heard this at one time or another, but it turns out that it’s NOT TRUE! In fact you CAN smell your own breath! Many of the patients I meet with tell me that that can smell and sometimes even taste their own bad breath.
Unfortunately I have some bad news for you…
Whatever you can smell and/or taste in your own mouth, can smell 5 times stronger to those near you! The fact is, we get used to our own body smells (it’s a process called acclimation – otherwise, all we would smell all day is our upper lip!). We can still smell them, but they are not as offensive to us as they are to other people. Put simply, “We Think We Smell Like Roses!”
Because of this, except for in the case of chronic halitosis, we are usually the LAST to know that there may be a problem. Bad breath is a very taboo subject between most people. Unless you have a trusted significant other that will be honest with you, most of the time you DON’T EVEN KNOW that your breath may be offensive.
So what are some of the typical signs that you may have a breath problem? How can you check for yourself? Here are the 6 most common symptoms, based on my patients complaints:
Tonsiloliths (those smelly white “globs” that you may cough up from the back of your throat)
Thick White Coating on the Back of Your Tongue
Constant Dry Mouth
The feeling of ‘smelling’ bad breath through your sinuses
Excess Mucous and/or Post-Nasal Drip
A Metallic, Tinny Taste
Now having just one, or even two or three of these symptoms does not absolutely mean you have bad breath. However, before treatment with my clinical formulas, ALL of my patients complained of at least 2 or more of these symptoms.
All forms of bad breath are caused by the same thing – anaerobic bacteria that live beneath the surface of your tongue! (Don’t forget that food odors such as onions,garlic, etc. also contain sulfur compounds similar to the sulfur compounds produced by the bacteria!)
These bacteria are not “bad guys”, rather they are a normal part of your oral environment and they break down the proteins in foods, natural oral tissue, and in mucus or phlegm. During the process of breaking down these proteins, they extract sulfur from the amino acids, and produce Volatile Sulfur Compounds such as Methyl Mercaptan (which smells sort of like dirty socks) and Hydrogen Sulfide (the ‘rotten egg” smell).
These bacteria are anaerobic, which literally means ‘without the presence of oxygen”. They breed by the billions deep within the fibers (papillae) of the tongue because in normal circumstances, oxygen cannot penetrate beneath the surface of the tongue.
Fundamentally, preventing bad breath is simple… you must introduce oxygen into the environment of these anaerobic bacteria. That’s it – it’s as plain and simple as that!
But the sad truth is that the commercial toothpaste and mouthwash manufacturers have been missing the boat for the last 50 years!
Next time you walk into a grocery store, take a look at the ingredients of any of the major brands of toothpaste – you’ll see Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) in almost every tube. Now there’s nothing wrong with SLS in a toothpaste – “unless you are trying to prevent bad breath!” SLS is a soap that they put in toothpaste for the sole purpose of making it foam. You see, people are conditioned to believe that more bubbles = clean, however the reality is that this is simply not true. SLS will dry out your mouth in a heartbeat creating an optimal environment for the bad breath bacteria to produce volatile sulfur compounds (and it’s also linked to the production of painful and annoying canker sores or mouth ulcers too!).
Now go to the mouthwash aisle of your local store and look at the back of the bottle of any major brand of mouthwash. First ingredient, “Water”, second ingredient, “Alcohol”. There’s nothing wrong with alcohol in a mouthwash – “unless you are trying to prevent bad breath!” Again, alcohol dries out your mouth in a flash!
Now go pick up a roll of popular breath mints – you’ll most likely see sugar as a primary ingredient. Once more, there’s nothing wrong with sugar in a breath mint, “unless you are trying to prevent bad breath!.” Sugar creates an excellent source of food for the bad breath bugs to thrive.
Really the process is simple…
I used to charge $495 for a clinical office visit – the office visit included diagnosing the severity of halitosis, analyzing the ‘problem spots’ of the specific patient, and showing them step-by-step how to use the TheraBreath clinical formulas to achieve maximum results.
Remember that stopping bad breath really is as simple as introducing oxygen to the anaerobic environment of the bacteria that produce those volatile sulfur compounds. This is done by introducing stabilized Oxychlor molecules in that environment where they live. Remember, most of the bacteria live under the surface of your tongue, so you MUST use something that penetrates beneath the surface of your tongue. You also need to make sure that the active ingredients are actually reaching your ‘problem areas’ – this is why we have so many different formulas.
Remember the three different types of bad breath? Occasional, Situational, and Chronic? In ANY of these cases, you must neutralize those bacteria to prevent bad breath.
For Occasional Bad Breath, you need to stimulate saliva production (saliva is nature’s breath freshener). But the latest sugar-free mints contain a hodge-podge of chemicals designed to burn the insides of your mouth. They were designed by marketing people, not breath specialists. Make sure you drink lots of water – just the simple act of adding oxygen-rich water to your oral environment, will probably be enough to freshen your breath to a comfortable level for a short period of time.
For Situational Bad Breath, you need to get a little more serious. Most likely you already have a decent amount of sulfur production, and you should be (GENTLY) scraping your tongue and applying an oxygenating toothpaste that doesn’t contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate to the surface of your tongue, especially at the very back. Also rinse twice a day with a mouthwash that doesn’t contain alcohol (also make sure that it doesn’t contain Benzalkonium Chloride – studies show that it causes a high rate of allergic response which can stimulate mucus production, making your breath worse, not better!). You also may want to try and stay away from proteins before an important conversation
For Chronic Bad Breath, then you must go all out. I used to see dozens of patients per week at my clinics and those that had chronic halitosis received the most benefit. It’s recommended that you follow the instructions of use located here. Most people with chronic bad breath have post-nasal drip and excess mucus buildup in the back of their throat. These people need to find an oxygenating solution that reaches the throat and sinuses where most mouthwashes and toothpaste can’t reach.
Remember I said that I used to charge $495 per visit for my bad breath treatment? (By the way, I still personally see patients once/month in San Francisco, the cost per visit is $165 and is completely guaranteed)
This was back during 1995-2000 – of course it was all-inclusive and included a wide selection of my clinical formulas, but I had people beating down my door for these $495 appointments! (including plenty of celebrities – remember fame is no guarantee for fresh breath!)
After working 10 hour days, 5 days/week and hiring a full staff of dentists and clinicians, I quickly realized that there had to be a better way. Appointments only happened one patient at a time, and there was only so much time in one day! And there are lots of people with bad breath!
So I took a small step backward and analyzed the exact procedures that I took during one of those visits at the California Breath Clinics.
Essentially, here is the procedure that I performed with every single patient (and I’ve simplified a lot, but you get the idea!)
1. Discuss eating habits, health history, special circumstances,
and other preliminary information
2. Test concentration of sulfides in breath using a clinical device
called the halimeter
3. Assess the specific ‘problem areas’ for
that particular patient
4. Test with Bad Breath Detective Kit (now available for home testing!)
5. Train patient in the use of the Oxygenating Formulas to be applied
to their particular problem areas.
6. Re-test with the halimiter and/or bad breath detective, showing
the patient the vast reduction in VSC levels.
And really that was it!
I soon realized that I was repeating myself over and over, every single day, and that if I could only document the treatment that I was prescribing then I could accomplish two primary goals:
1. Significantly increase the number of patients that I can treat
every month, and
2. Dramatically lower the cost of treatment.
And THAT was the start of the information contained in the Bad Breath Bible…
So the solution to having fresh breath is really pretty simple:
1. Brush and Rinse with an oxygenating toothpaste and mouthwash that
doesn’t contain any Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Alcohol
2. Use a Tongue Scraper to remove the mucus layer from the surface
of your tongue, then apply an oxygenating toothpaste/toothgel to the surface
as far back as possible
3. If necessary, identify your particular problem areas (ie throat,
tonsils, sinuses, etc.) and apply the appropriate formula
4. Repeat as necessary for at least 14-21 days for noticeably fresher
breath.
And that’s basically it. Follow those steps daily and I guarantee you’ll be well on your way to fresher breath.
Warmest Regards,
-Harold Katz, DDS
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