Resolving Bad Breath Problems in Diabetics

Today, I received an e-mail from Mary Henriette, who is concerned about bad breath. She is a diabetic and wants to know the right treatment for her bad breath.

Now, dear Mary, please understand that there exist many factors that can cause bad breath or halitosis as a medical term. Diabetes is one of them, but you must get to know about other causes too. 

1. The very first is related to Ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition where ketones are produced in high concentration due to the prolonged lack of glucose-supply to our body cells where diabetes is not well controlled.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

In such condition, they are constrained to use alternative energy providers such as fatty acids or   proteins, where ketones are produced. This is an emergency and requires urgent medical help.     

    2.   When  your mouth smells like fishy, then, it might be related to chronic kidney failure. Therefore, it    is a must to consult with your doctor for further evaluations.

    3.   Sometimes, the breath smells like feces. This is possible where there is a bowel obstruction, and patients do vomit for a long time. They can vomit feces too. It is considered as emergency and need surgical help. 

    4.   Most of the time, where alcoholic drinks are being consummated  there is a typical alcoholic smell from their mouth. 

    5.   Although there exist many diseases that can cause halitosis, the oral hygiene is the most important and the most common cause for bad mouth odor. Eating certain foods like spices, garlic, onion, etc., can make your breath smell horrible. 

In other cases, where you have a tooth gone bad, or any teeth abscess  the most probable you might feel a bad odor coming from your mouth. 

Furthermore, when patients are chronic carriers of streptococcus or have chronic sore throat, most probably, they will experience bad odor. 

As you may see, keeping a good oral hygiene will help you ease the problems with halitosis although you might be a diabetic. 

Keep in mind:

What measures to take to ease bad breath?

1.  If you smoke, try to stop smoking. Cigarettes are the worst enemies to your oral hygiene.
2.  Please do not consume alcohol, especially when you are diabetic as it will worsen your situation.
3.  Try to wash your mouth and keep it clean as much as you can, particularly after eating.
4.  If you wear dentures, try to keep them well cleaned.
5.  Ask your doctor for the best treatment of sore throat or chronic streptococcal infection. 
6.  Stop taking vitamins in large dose as they might be the cause of halitosis.
7.  Try not to lay down immediately after eating to avoid stomach problems.
8.  At least, if the above measures cannot help, CONSULT your doctor, especially when you might have other symptoms. 

Retur to Diabetes Complications

Written by Dr.Albana Greca Sejdini, Md, MMedSc       

Medically reviewed by Dr.Ruden Cakoni, MD, Endocrinologist