A Journal for Bad Breath

At one time, a journal for bad breath would have been unheard of. Oral malodor was not really considered a medical problem: it was a personal thing, an indication that a person was deficient in oral hygiene or had some other personal habit that caused the problem. Accordingly, sufferers were on their own in treating the condition, and only over-the-counter breath fresheners were available to assist them. Anyone selling remedies was considered by many to be a quack—indeed, historically, these remedies did little beyond masking the odor.

Since the 1960s more and more qualified medical professionals have done research on halitosis. One of the earliest researchers, and the man credited with discovering that bacteria cause most of the foul smell associated with oral malodor, was Dr. Joseph Tonzetich, working at the University of British Columbia. More than thirty years after this important work, we finally have a journal for bad breath: The Journal of Breath Research. It seems this field of research has finally gained academic respect.

A significant number of people struggle with oral malodor, trying one commercial product or alternative remedy after another with varying success (several treatments based on knowledge gained by Tonzetich and other scientists have appeared on the market). This group will likely be intensely interested in research reported in a journal for bad breath. The advent of the publication – the first issue appeared in 2007 – lends hope to the thought that real progress on a cure may be near: at least it’s clear that serious work is being done. Research on halitosis, however, proceeds slowly like all medical investigation.

The publication is not concerned only with research on halitosis: other work published in its pages will explore breath analysis for the diagnosis of various diseases, as well as detection of alcohol, pollutants, toxins and other volatile substances that are excreted through exhalation. Scientific study of these subjects is now a broad area of medical investigation that forms a credible framework for oral malodor study, and the respected basis for a journal for bad breath. For the general reader however, the papers published may be a bit technical and many will be written in inaccessible academic language: fortunately, science writers often pick up on breakthrough research and interpret it for the rest of us, writing short pieces on the internet and in other news media. Keep your eye out for news from the Journal of Breath Research.

The Journal of Breath Research is published four times a year (March, June, September, December) by IOP Electronic Journals. Articles published are subjected to peer review by recognized experts in their subject, a process that ensures that the work reported is scientifically sound.

Solobacterium moorei and Bad Breath

Scientists have found strong evidence for a link between the bacterium Solobacterium moorei and bad breath. This organism is an anaerobic bacillus that has rarely been encountered in medicine, but has recently been isolated from feces, dental abscesses, and the mouths of people suffering from oral malodor. In laboratory testing, scientists have also confirmed that the bacterium produces hydrogen sulfide, one of the gases that accounts for the characteristic odor of rotten eggs.

Bacteria associated with halitosis are nothing new: we’ve known for a number of years that anaerobic bacteria living in the mouth give off the volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) responsible for oral malodor. These bacteria flourish in the absence of oxygen and metabolize proteins supplied by cells, food particles, and secretions. In breaking down proteins, the organisms give off VSCs as a byproduct. The relationship between Solobacterium moorei and bad breath is explained in the same way. Researchers have identified suspicious species of anaerobic bacteria one by one, and found many of them to be present in virtually all mouths, but apparently flourishing in greater numbers where odor is an issue. It’s never been clear why the various species do better in some mouths than in others.

The link between Solobacterium moorei and bad breath appears to be much stronger than that found for other species. In studies where researchers looked for the organism in the mouths of volunteers, they found it in virtually all subjects with oral malodor, and in almost none of those without the condition. In one study, subjects who did not have oral malodor, but who did have the bacterium, had another oral problem, such as periodontitis (inflammation of the gums). Of all the bacteria associated with halitosis so far, this new species appears the most likely to provide an answer and clues to a cure.

If research proves a causative relationship between Solobacterium moorei and bad breath, we may be able to devise a way to get rid of a health problem that has resisted all attempts to deal with it for decades. Testing of antibiotics against the organism has shown that it is sensitive to many of the drugs already available to us. If doctors can determine how best to deliver the drug to regions of the mouth were the anaerobes live, oral malodor could be treated like any other infection. We may not have the whole story yet—there may be other bacteria associated with halitosis that scientists have yet to find—but we are one step closer to a real cure for bad breath.

Source for this article: V. I. Haraszthy, D. Gerber, B. Clark et al. “Characterization and prevalence of Solobacterium moorei associated with oral halitosis.” Journal of Breath Research: March 2008.