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.