Bad breath

[lmcgill]

Our son seems to have extremely bad breath some days. I have heard this could be indicitive of either something going on in the digestive system or in the throat. My wife is a dental hygeinist so his mouth and teeth are in good shape. Anyone have first hand knowledge of this?

Thanks Lenny

[Irena]

The first two things I can think of are strep and candida.

 

One of the indications that throat infection is of bacterial nature (strep) and not viral one is bad smell (very characteristic). With my three sons it has always been for me an indication whether I should see a pediatrician (in case of a bacterial infection antibiotics are usually needed) or just wait till the body overcome the virus itself. The difference is usually also in the look of the throat. If it's bacterial infection there is usually some whitish coating or spots. If it's viral the throat is usually very red, even purple.

 

With candida being the problem, one of the symptoms is also bad breath. If it really is candida it would be probably accompanied by white coating on the tongue.

 

I don't know whether this will be of any help as this is only my common, unprofessional knowledge.