Post-nasal drip, a thick mucus discharge from the nasal passage into the throat, can cause bad breath by providing a food source and protective barrier for bacteria that produce compounds that combine with breath and make it smell bad. It can also combine with food particles to form odorous debris called tonsilloliths. Treatment involves removing the cause of the post-nasal drip, such as allergies or a cold.
Thick mucus discharge from the nasal passage into the throat, known as post-nasal drip, is a potential contributor to bad breath. Post-nasal drip and bad breath are related in two ways. First, the postnasal drip provides a food source and protective barrier for bacteria that are commonly associated with the production of compounds that combine with breath and make it smell bad. Second, post-nasal drip can combine with food particles to form odorous debris, known as tonsilloliths that reside in the throat.
Post-nasal drip and bad breath often occur at the same time. This is because the mucus that begins to build up in the throat from post-nasal drip provides an excellent food source for bacteria. Having an excellent food source means that bacteria will thrive and survive in the back of the throat, causing their numbers to increase. Additionally, thick mucus can act as a protective layer for bacteria, allowing them to stay and thrive.
After feeding on the mucus, the bacteria have to get rid of the leftover waste products. These waste products are usually volatile sulfur compounds, i.e. sulfur that evaporates rapidly at regular temperatures. Sulfur has a distinctive unpleasant odor and when it combines with the air expelled from the lungs, it causes bad breath. Volatile sulfur compounds are just one type of waste product produced by bacteria. There are many other waste products associated with a wide variety of rancid odors, such as putrescine, the foul-smelling compound produced when meat rots, and skatole, which reportedly smells like fecal matter.
Another way post-nasal drip and bad breath are linked is through accumulated tonsilloliths. Tonsilloliths are small, hard lumps of solid white material. They form in the small crevices that exist in the tonsils. They are made up of dead skin cells, mucus and bacteria and generally have a very unpleasant smell. Post-nasal drip and bad breath are linked because increased mucus leads to an increased chance of some of the mucus becoming trapped in the crevices of the tonsils and forming rancid-smelling tonsilloliths.
Treatment of bad breath caused by post-nasal drip involves removing the cause of the post-nasal drip. When post-nasal drip is caused by a transient condition, such as a cold, the bad breath should clear up as the cold clears up on its own. Chronic post-nasal drip is often caused by allergies and can be treated with decongestants or antihistamines. In severe chronic cases, postnasal drip may need to be treated with surgery to open blocked sinus passages.
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