NO one wants to have bad breath.
But even if you’re brushing twice a day, flossing AND using mouthwash, you might be fighting a losing battle.
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Despite doing everything right and taking great care of your teeth there might be a reason for your bad breath.
This – slightly grim, but treatable – reason could be tonsil stones.
Dr Vikas Prinja, who goes by the London Dentist on TikTok, shared a video of the surprisingly common problem.
People could have them and have no clue, or you might find by learning more about the symptoms you could have developed them.
Dr Prinja said: “If you’re getting bad breath and you don’t know what could be causing it, it could be because of these, these are tonsil stones.
“They build up at the back of your mouth and they calcify deposits.
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“They can harbour a lot of bacteria and cause bad breath without you realising.”
“They can get removed by a professional like this.”
Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are not a serious problem, but they can cause a sore throat or bad breath.
They are made up of debris which has got caught at the back of the throat.
The stones are formed of mainly calcium salts, which has hardened from caught tissues and germs.
They can be hard like small rocks, or seem soft – usually quite small but they can grow.
Symptoms of tonsil stones include:
- feeling like something is stuck in your throat
- bad breath
- sore throat or discomfort when swallowing
- trouble swallowing
- a bad taste in the mouth
- an irritating cough
- earache
It is important to note they are not cancerous growths and aren’t attached to anything, rather stuck inside the tissues.
They are more common in adults than kids, with some people just developing one or multiple stones.
It is more likely to occur in people who have larger or more “craggy” tonsils.
You might even be able to spot them, as they can look like the white spots more commonly associated with tonsillitis.
Treatment to get rid of them ranges from gargling to surgery.
Sometimes treatment isn’t needed, if there are not bothersome symptoms.
But if gargling and spitting out mouthwash or salt water doesn’t help, an expert can help.
An ear, nose and throat surgeon can remove tonsil stones, after being referred by a dentists or GP.
This is usually done by scraping out the stone, with local anaesthetic.
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