The Smells of Bad Breath
Bad Breath is the waste product from thousands of bacteria that inhabit our mouths. To date over 800 species of bacteria are believed to live in the oral cavity but we have not come close to identifying most of them. All our mouth bacteria serve a purpose, some are used to aid digestion, some bacteria help defend the mouth against illness. In a bad breath scenario, a certain type of bacteria that feed off proteins and are anaerobic in nature release waste products called "Volatile Sulphur Compounds" into the mouth as they go about their lives. This usually happens because the environment of your mouth has been somehow changed so that it enhances the support of these smell making bacteria over and above the good neutral bacteria.

Some of the most common bacteria that release bad breath smells are Treponema denticola, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythensis, Porphyromonas endodontalis and Eubacterium Species. As mentioned before, these particular bacteria digest proteins and make amino acids and a waste product called Volatile Sulphur Compounds. There are three main Volatile Sulphur compounds; Hydrogen Sulphide, Methyl Mercaptan, and Hydrogen Disulphide. These three compounds will make up 90% of all bad breath smells. Each compound comes from bacteria that reside in different parts of the oral cavity. For example if you are high in Hydrogen Sulphide (rotten eggs) then usually this is from bacteria on the tongue surface. If you are high in Methyl Mercaptan (bowel and fecal smells) then usually this is from bacteria living between your teeth and under your gums. It is a common smell of gingivitis and periodontitis. Finally if you are high in Dimethyl Sulphide (cabbage eggs or gasoline smells) then this is from the tongue surface or ketosis from the lungs. As well as these main sulphur compounds other smelly compounds are also released. Below is a table that shows the different smells made by the bacteria in your mouth.

In a healthy oral cavity, these bacteria will be in good balance with the remaining bacteria of the mouth and therefore not cause problems. The Australian Breath Clinic Treatment Program aims at helping you create a healthy mouth environment so that there is always good bacterial balance. We do this by first using a special Balancing Rinse with a proprietary ingredient for five intense days. This is followed by our proven KForce Breath Guard Probiotic Program that uses a (good bacteria) called Streptococcus salivarius K12, the main ingredient in KForce Probiotics.

Australian Breath Clinic Science
In conjunction with Otago University and BLIS Technologies, the Australian Breath Clinic has conducted research on bad breath patients using S.salivarius K12 to fight the bacteria that cause bad breath. The results have been released in a scientific paper published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. Burton J, Chilcott C, C. J. Moore, G. Speiser, J. R. Tagg. "A preliminary study of the effect of probiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 on oral malodour parameters." Journal of Applied Microbiology 2006 pp754-764.

During the study we had two absolutely amazing results. One subject dropped their breath score from 1400 to 250 in one week. Breath scores measure the amount of volatile sulphur compounds (VSC's) in a person's breath. A reading of 1400 indicates that you could still smell the odour up to 5 minutes after the person has left the room. The second person dropped their breath score from 1150 to 150. Anything under 150 is considered a normal breath reading. These patients were people who had suffered most of their lives with the embarrassment of bad breath. Since this initial study we have treated over 5000 people either directly at our clinics or through our Internet site. Our results have been consistent with over 90% of people showing good reduction in bad breath and sour taste.

This amazingly high success rate is due to the completeness of our Bad Breath Treatment Program to fight the bacteria that cause bad breath. Please view our Clinical Trials and Case Studies to see how Dr Speiser attacks the bad breath problem.