Preparing for your Halitosis Consultation

You’ve noticed that you have bad breath and took the right step to seek help from a specialist at a bad breath clinic. Great news! In order to get the most out of your appointment, it’s a smart idea to do a little prep work.

Before Going to your Appointment
It’s best to schedule your appointment in the morning. It’s encouraged that abstain from the following activities for at least 2-3 hours before your appointment:

•     Smoking
•     Drinking
•     Eating (including chewing gum)
•     Brushing your teeth
•     Applying perfumes or scented cosmetics

These activities could mask or exaggerate the degree of your halitosis.

Common Questions You May be Asked
In addition to your oral hygiene patterns and personal halitosis experience (when it started, what seems to trigger it, etc) the doctor will likely ask a great deal of questions about your personal habits. Smoking, the foods you eat, snoring, mouth breathing and certain foods can heavily influence your breath quality. He may also ask about other medical conditions, your general health and any genetic predisposition you may have to bad breath. Other illnesses as well as medications can be related to your halitosis. Occasionally saliva analysis will be performed also.

As with any doctor, it is important to be completely honest and open with a bad breath specialist. It’s a great idea to think about the answer to your questions prior to the appointment. Ask your significant other if you snore. Consider whether your folks had strong breath. These answers are important and will help the breath specialist make the right diagnosis and find you the right treatment.

Actions the Doctor May Perform
The doctor will normally smell your mouth and nose breath and personally assess the degree of your halitosis. He or she may also use a tongue scraper to gauge the smell of the back of your tongue. For a more technical assessment, halitosis specialists will use a halimeter. This tool measures the volatile sulphur compounds that exist in your mouth.

Reasonable Expectations
Seeing a specialist about your bad breath is a great initial step to treating your halitosis. This doesn’t mean you will be cured and have instant fresh breath driving home. Resolving a halitosis condition typically takes anywhere from 1-4 days to be eliminated once an accurate diagnosis has been made.

You will also have a thorough understanding of what the contributing factors are to your halitosis condition. The doctor should also provide you with the severity level of your halitosis. Based on this, he or she should be able to recommend some halitosis remedies or a halitosis treatment kit. Make sure you are given the further steps you should take. The specialist may ask that you come in for a follow-up appointment.

All these steps will make sure the appointment you have is as productive and efficient as possible.

About the Author: Dr. Dailley runs a bad breath clinic in the Bay Area seeing patients from all over the country. He operates with a 99% success rate. With a degree in dentistry as well as Cell & Molecular Biology, Dr. Dailley can help cure your bad breath and start living a happier and healthier life. Shop his website for over-the-counter bad breath treatments.