Causes of bad breath in a child. Bad breath from a child: treatment

Bad breath in a child may be a consequence of poor nutrition, personal hygiene rules, or a manifestation of the development of an infectious disease. All this threatens, at a minimum, the health of the teeth and oral cavity.
Often a baby's breath smells like milk, so other odors should be alarming. And in order to prevent adverse consequences, this phenomenon should be dealt with promptly and correctly.
First of all, you need to determine why your child’s breath smells. After all, what and how to treat the baby depends on the cause, and whether treatment is required at all.

Do not panic if you notice bad breath in a child; there can be many reasons for this phenomenon. The most common factors include certain foods: garlic, dairy products, onions, corn and sweets. But this phenomenon is temporary, that is, to eliminate a specific odor from a child’s mouth, it is enough to brush his teeth.
The following common factors may also cause you to encounter this problem:

Violation or neglect of oral hygiene procedures. In this case, problems with teeth and gums may be the reason for the appearance of a specific odor. This is also often encountered by children who refuse to brush their teeth after every meal.
When it smells unpleasant and is present, most likely the baby has a fungal infection.
A specific odor may appear due to inflammatory processes in the mouth and nasopharynx. For example, in children, tonsils often become inflamed, and food particles get stuck in the tonsils, which leads to tissue inflammation, and rot often forms. A common sore throat is characterized by inflammation of the nasopharynx and accumulation of mucus in the sinuses, and the pathogenic bacteria that develop with the disease cause a terrible odor.
Impaired functioning of the digestive system. Thus, with gastrointestinal upset and increased gas formation, a specific smell from the baby’s mouth may appear, as gastric juice accumulates in the body and the acidity level changes.
Nervous system disorders. A child's experience of stress affects the overall health of the child, which also contributes to disruption of the oral environment, which may result in a specific odor from the mouth.
Various diseases can be accompanied by bad breath. Therefore, at the first changes in the health of an infant, you need to contact a pediatrician, who, after an examination and additional tests, will be able to make an accurate diagnosis.

Thus, a child may develop bad breath for various reasons, ranging from harmless temporary factors to serious illnesses. The latter should be discussed in more detail.

Diseases accompanied by an unpleasant odor from the mouth

If the diet is adjusted, the rules of hygiene are observed, and your breath continues to stink, you need to consult a specialist to identify a more serious cause. When a putrid or sour smell appears, this phenomenon is medically called halitosis.
It is useful for parents to learn how to identify halitosis and be able to describe it so that the doctor can understand the symptoms more clearly, which will allow him to determine in which system of the baby’s body the disorder has occurred. For example, some diseases are characterized by the following specific symptoms:

a rotten smell occurs due to inflammation of the stomach or ulcer;
observed in people with diabetes;
the presence of a sour odor from the mouth of a baby indicates the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus if the acidity of the stomach is increased;
if the stomach is inflamed, with low acidity, a putrid odor will appear, as in diseases of the esophagus;
if you have kidney disease, your breath will stink of ammonia;
a sweet-milky odor is observed when kidney function is impaired;
if it smells like boiled cabbage, this may be due to metabolic diseases that are inherited.

If we consider the reasons for the occurrence of a specific odor from the mouth of a one-year-old child, then there are many others.
These symptoms characterize adenoid vegetation in a baby, that is, lymphoid tissues grow in the nasopharynx and it becomes inflamed. Superficially, they are covered with mucus, which has a strong purulent odor. The affected adenoids, due to their increase in size, block the passage of air through the nasal sinuses, so the child stops breathing through them, which causes the mouth to dry out and may subsequently be injured.
As a rule, ongoing and ongoing diseases of the oral cavity and larynx, as well as chronic and acute ailments of the respiratory tract, are characterized by an unpleasant and pungent odor.
Often the cause of bad breath is caries, gum inflammation and the development of fungal disease in the mouth. Even a healthy newborn child has a fungus from the genus Candida on the mucous membranes of the body, which can provoke inflammation of the mucous membrane under certain conditions. This phenomenon is also observed in the oral cavity, resulting in an unpleasant-smelling white coating on the tongue, gums, teeth and lips.

How to eliminate bad breath in a child?

If there are signs of halitosis in a child, first of all you need to protect him from sweets. It is better to replace it with honey and sour fruits, which help increase saliva production. If after such a restriction the problem is not solved, you should immediately show the child to the doctor in order to identify the real cause of this symptom and select the right medicine.
However, if halitosis is not a symptom of the disease, you can solve the problem with an unpleasant odor using several folk remedies:

You can prepare a decoction based on sage, chamomile, mint or strawberry for rinsing your mouth. Pour boiling water over 1 g of herbal mixture, then strain and cool. You can give this natural preparation 3 times a day.
To improve gum health, it is recommended to use oak bark. 1 tbsp. l. raw materials should be poured with boiling water, and after 30 minutes strain. Rinse your mouth and throat.
Children love chewing gum and chewing candies. Therefore, they will be interested in trying natural and healthy chewing gum. To prepare, you need to melt 100 g of beeswax, add 10 drops of lemon juice, 3 drops of mint oil and 50 g of honey. After thoroughly mixing the ingredients, roll it into a ball and give it to the child to chew 2-3 times a day.
It is useful to use mint tincture for rinsing. You need 1 tbsp. l. add crushed leaves to 2 cups of water and let steep for 30 minutes. It is recommended to rinse your mouth with tincture before and after sleep.

Of course, if the child is too small and does not know how to chew and rinse, the described folk methods will not be able to help. In such cases, it is important to strictly observe general hygiene rules and adhere to a proper diet.

During the course of a year, a child undergoes intensive processes of development and growth. Even with a slight change in the balance, a disease can occur or a failure in the formation of one or another organ or even an entire system can occur. Parents can prevent pathology in the early stages by paying attention to warning signs and symptoms. Let's look at the reasons why a one-year-old child's breath smells.

The most common cause of odor is poor oral hygiene. When insufficient, intensive growth of microorganisms occurs, which use not removed food particles as food. A strong odor is especially noticeable after sleep, since at night saliva, which has bactericidal properties, is almost not released, resulting in the active growth of bacteria, causing a stale odor.

Caries

Caries is a pathogenic process that occurs in the hard tissues of the tooth and is accompanied by its destruction and halitosis (bad breath syndrome). During their life, microorganisms release toxins and lactic acid, which destroy tooth enamel, causing tooth decay. The greater the damage, the stronger the baby's pain.

Consumption of large quantities of sweets provokes the development of caries, because sucrose is the best food for bacteria.

A predisposition to karyotic formations on teeth may be genetic. If parents had problems with teeth, this can be inherited by the child. In this case, regular dental examinations and timely treatment will reduce the risk of problems developing in your baby.

Dry mouth

The bactericidal properties of saliva help maintain normal microflora in the baby's mouth. With insufficient salivation, pathogenic flora grows and inflammatory processes are activated.

Dry mouth is a common sign of salivary gland dysfunction. A common reason for this may be dehydration or insufficient air humidity in the room where the baby sleeps. Even if he is breastfed, the baby additionally needs drinking water.

Less commonly, dry mouth is caused by salivary gland dysfunction syndrome (xerostomia), which develops as a result of many factors, including the use of medications. If a child experiences dry mouth, even with plenty of fluids, it is worth contacting a specialist to rule out the above diagnosis.

The video below explains the reasons well:

Diseases of ENT organs

Inflammatory processes occurring in the ENT organs (ear, throat, nose) can cause discomfort due to the active inflammatory process. Such processes develop in the following diseases: sore throat, sinusitis, sinusitis, etc. If you smell a purulent smell from your baby’s mouth, accompanied by the release of greenish mucus from the nasal cavity, then most likely you are dealing with an infectious process. In case of infection, you should contact your pediatrician to identify the pathogen and prescribe therapy.

Oksana Shiyka
Dentist-therapist
Diseases of the ENT organs should not be confused with allergic reactions. With allergies, as with infections, a runny nose and cough may occur. Often these symptoms are accompanied by redness on the cheeks; in more severe cases, the rash spreads throughout the body.
Other diseases
Do not forget that other diseases can also cause bad breath from a baby, in particular gastrointestinal pathologies. A foul odor due to stomach problems is not uncommon. With gastritis and peptic ulcers, an excessive amount of hydrochloric acid can be released, which leads to a sour odor, and with intestinal pathology, insufficient digestion of proteins, fats and carbohydrates occurs, and all this provokes the appearance of a putrid aroma.
You should pay attention to the fact that stopping breastfeeding can also cause bad breath from a child, since mother's milk has bactericidal and immunomodulatory properties.
Types of unpleasant odors
Halitosis in children 1 year of age may be accompanied by the appearance of the following odors:
chemical;
sweetish;
chlorine;
bile;
urine;
gland;
iodine;
with rot;
solvent;
sourish;
rotten;
acetic;
acetone.

Oksana Shiyka
Dentist-therapist
If you find this in your child, you should contact a specialist for help. The smell may be a sign of developing diseases or improper development of internal organs.
How to get rid of bad smell
Sometimes getting rid of the smell is not so easy. First of all, it is necessary to carefully examine the child’s mouth and teeth to determine if there is inflammation of the gums. If you find white or black spots on the enamel, signs of inflammation of the gums (bleeding, redness), then you should make an appointment with a doctor, the doctor will carry out treatment and tell you about preventive measures.
Decay of baby teeth is a sad consequence.
Sometimes a simple hygiene procedure using toothpaste that does not contain dyes and fragrances and a cotton swab soaked in a chamomile solution can eliminate the odor.
If the smell persists even after a hygiene procedure, provided there is no pathology on the child’s teeth or gums, then tests should be taken to identify the true cause of halitosis. This requires consultation with a local pediatrician.
Medicines
Drug therapy is selected by the doctor upon diagnosis and after establishing the true cause of the unpleasant odor. Self-medication can be dangerous, since you will not always be able to understand what pathological process is causing bad breath in a child. If the reason lies in a violation of the microflora of the mouth or is associated with a slight inflammatory process (for example, a runny nose), then treatment can be carried out at home.
Products containing sugar and synthetic additives should be excluded from the daily menu; this will improve the state of normal microflora in the child’s mouth. It is recommended to use only natural ingredients as complementary foods. It is better to prepare pureed vegetables and fruits yourself at home; you should choose only fresh products for this.
Home remedies
Using humidifiers to prevent dry mouth. It is best to keep the humidity in your home at 50-70%. Turn on the humidifier at night as well, this will prevent your child’s nasopharynx from drying out while sleeping. If you don’t have a humidifier, you can place pots of plants in the room where the baby sleeps, hang wet towels, or leave basins with warm water.
Rinsing the mouth with mineral water and adding a small amount of lemon juice will help restore salivation. Acid is a natural irritant of the salivary glands. If such rinsing is impossible for some reason, then it is enough to give the child a small slice of lemon or some other sour fruit, this will provoke salivation and moisten the mouth.
Compliance with the correct drinking regime helps to increase salivation and restore the bactericidal effect of saliva. At one year of age, a child needs to drink from 500 ml to 1 liter of drinking water per day. Signs of dehydration in your baby include dry skin, the formation of a white coating on the tongue, and chapped lips.
Treating the oral cavity with mint decoction. Mint water can be prepared as follows: 1 tbsp. l. mint pour 1 liter of hot water, leave for about 1 hour. Make sure that the child does not swallow the decoction. Liquid can be given to him using a 10 ml syringe.
If you have a runny nose, it is recommended to rinse the nasopharynx with salt and give plenty of fluids. When nasal breathing is restored, the child stops breathing through the mouth, the saliva does not dry out, and the unpleasant odor goes away. Washing is carried out using special ready-made solutions, which can be purchased at the pharmacy in the form of aerosols. It is recommended to consult a pediatrician before purchasing a medicine.
Bathing a child with a decoction of chamomile and calendula added to the water will help reduce swelling of the mucous membranes during a runny nose and prevent the development of the inflammatory process. Adding herbs to the bath will neutralize pathogenic bacteria and moisturize the walls of the nasopharynx, thereby improving the child’s condition.

Still, it is better to prevent a disease than to treat it. The condition of a child’s oral cavity is an indicator of the development of the baby’s body. Compliance with the rules of hygiene, nutrition, daily routine, and timely contact with a pediatrician is the key to good health for children.
Prevention methods
Oral hygiene and proper nutrition are the basis for preventing problems. It is extremely important to show your child how to properly care for his teeth and teach him the rules of oral hygiene as soon as his first tooth appears. The introduction of vegetables and fruits into the child’s diet will help cleanse the oral cavity of food debris.
If you notice any redness or plaque, you should see a doctor. A specialist will be able to give recommendations on how to eliminate the first signs of disease development. In addition, every month it is advisable for the child to have an oral examination using a dental mirror.

The fact that a person is healthy is signaled not only by his well-being and appearance, but also by his smell. That’s why parents get tense when they feel that their child’s breath smells bad.

This sign indicates that some unhealthy processes are occurring in your baby’s body. A child’s bad breath can occur due to many diseases. And the task of parents is to notice such a symptom and, in case of suspicion, contact a specialist.

Doctors may not notice and “miss” an abnormal condition because they do not communicate with your child every day. So, an unpleasant smell from the mouth of a 3-year-old child, an infant, or even a teenager can mainly be determined by the mother.

But even such a simple symptom has its own nuances, each of which is due to certain causes.

Child's breath smells in the morning

An unpleasant odor that occurs in a baby in the morning does not always indicate pathology; it is explained by the active action of bacteria in the oral cavity. At night, saliva is not produced as actively, hence the present symptom. Maybe the child didn’t brush his teeth last night or ate something sweet or spicy. If the smell has a sour taste, check the baby for dysbacteriosis.

Usually, after brushing your teeth in the morning, this symptom disappears. If this does not happen, and the morning smell is still felt, it means that there is a painful condition, and it is necessary to understand the reasons.

Why does my child have bad breath?

There are several reasons for bad breath in a child. Let's briefly consider the most common of them:

Some food items. Foods such as garlic, onions, cheese, corn, juices and sweets can make your breath worse. After taking them, it is better to rinse your mouth or brush your teeth.
Insufficient oral hygiene. If a baby neglects to brush his teeth, harmful microorganisms multiply in his mouth, caries appears and, as a result, his breath smells. This reason is also connected with another - dental problems.
Sore throat. Due to inflamed tonsils, the smell of your mouth may also change. This occurs due to the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. The tonsils become loose, and yellowish lumps may periodically emerge from the throat.
Fungal diseases. In this case, the smell may be accompanied by a whitish coating.
Presence of sinusitis. The mucus arising from the gamer's sinuses gives an unpleasant odor. In addition, with a severe runny nose, the nose is usually stuffy and breathing is done through the mouth. Dry mouth occurs, which also affects the smell.
Problems with the gastrointestinal tract. Stomach diseases also affect the smell of the mouth. This occurs due to increased acidity and excess gastric juice.
Presence of a foreign body in the nose. Examine the baby. Many children put small objects, bones, and pieces of food into their nasal passages, which can cause odor.

In general, changes in the microflora of the oral cavity, the painful condition of the upper respiratory tract, as well as the digestive organs can often be diagnosed precisely by the smell in the mouth.

Putrid odor from a child's mouth

The causes of the smell of pus from the mouth can signal serious diseases, such as tonsillitis, sinusitis, for example, or talk about existing pulpitis in the teeth. Food could get stuck in the tooth hole, which over time began to rot. If such a symptom is detected, it is recommended to show the child first to a pediatrician, and then he will refer you for examination to a more specialized specialist.

When a child, especially an infant, has a strange smell from their mouth, parents worry and try to figure out why the bad breath appears. Exhalation of stench from the mouth indicates the influence of various factors. The most harmless are food, the more dangerous are stress and dental diseases. Also, an unpleasant odor can be a consequence of serious pathologies of the digestive system.

Why does a healthy child's breath smell bad?

In healthy children, the main cause of halitosis (bad breath) is poor diet. The predominance of protein and carbohydrate foods in the diet provokes digestive disorders and the release of odor. If your child has bad breath, consider whether he or she has eaten onions, garlic, cabbage, cheese, or other strong-smelling foods. If a baby overuses sweets, sugar causes a bad odor, which contributes to the growth of bacterial colonization in the oral cavity.

Make sure your child brushes his teeth and does it correctly. Inept or irregular oral care creates an environment in the cavity that is favorable for the proliferation of microorganisms. Their activity produces an unpleasant odor.

Some children breathe through their mouth rather than through their nose. In this case, the mucous membranes of the cavity dry out and an “aroma” is released. If the child is worried or under stress, the condition reduces salivation. As a result, the oral cavity dries out and produces stale breath.

Particularly active children can insert a foreign body into their nose. If it begins to decompose, there will be a stench from the mouth and respiratory tract. At home, it is unlikely that you will be able to remove a soggy, damaged item. The baby needs to be urgently sent to an ENT doctor.

Pediatrician Komarovsky is convinced that if the child does not have chronic diseases, bad breath is not a problem. It quickly disappears and does not require medical intervention. If the baby suffers from any pathology, he may stink constantly.

Halitosis as a sign of disease

If a child takes care of himself and eats only the “right” food, but parents again notice that bad breath has appeared, or the air coming out has changed for the worse, it is recommended to contact a pediatrician, dentist or gastroenterologist. Let's consider what smell is considered strange and requires medical attention, and why it is released.

Acid. An unpleasant odor signals an increase in stomach acidity or the reflux of gastric juice into the esophagus. The sour smell is complemented by pain in the pit of the stomach and heartburn.
Hydrogen sulfide, reminiscent of the smell of rotten eggs. Such breathing should be considered as a symptom of inflammatory processes in the stomach. With gastritis or peptic ulcers, belching is added to the sulfur stench.
Sweet, similar to the smell of raw liver– a sure sign of liver disease (cirrhosis, hepatitis).
Putrefactive. If a child smells rotten, halitosis draws attention to the esophagus and stomach, which suffers from low acidity. Also, an unpleasant putrid odor is released from the mouth during stomatitis, caries, sore throat and pharyngitis.
Dung. The smell of animal feces signals an abnormal flow of metabolic processes.
Acetone. When a baby exhales acetone, this indicates the development of diabetes. A decrease in insulin levels disrupts carbohydrate metabolism and causes dryness and bad breath. The second dangerous condition for a child is acetonemic syndrome. It manifests itself as episodic vomiting and a strong odor of acetone, which comes from breathing and urinating.
Ammonia. Specific halitosis indicates kidney problems. The stronger the smell, the more severe the pathology. Bad breath is explained by the fact that the paired organ cannot cope with its duties and does not remove waste products in full.

How to eliminate halitosis

If you are sure that the child is healthy, try to get rid of the bad smell by correcting the diet. Reduce the amount of sweets you consume. Replace sugar with honey if you are not allergic to it. Develop a diet so that your baby receives a sufficient amount of a variety of vegetables and fruits (preferably fresh) throughout the day.

If a child complains of dry mouth, after which an unpleasant odor appears, organize a normal drinking regime for him. Let him drink juices, compotes, tea, decoctions and herbal infusions, but not soda. Between feedings, let's chew parsley or eat apples, oranges, and carrots.

If your one-year-old baby's mouth smells bad, give him apple slices and fruit juices to stimulate salivation and clean the tongue, teeth and inside of the cheeks. Until the baby learns to brush his teeth, the mother will have to take care of her mouth using a special silicone fingertip-type device.

If you cannot cope with halitosis on your own, the child and his parents should visit a doctor and identify the predisposing factor. If the pediatrician finds no abnormalities in the baby’s health, then the patient is sent to a dentist and gastroenterologist. Specialists will figure out why the child’s mouth emits a strange odor and prescribe adequate treatment.

There are several causes of halitosis in a child - among the main ones:

Certain drinks or foods (such as onions or garlic, corn, cheese, and certain juices) may temporarily make the smell worse. Causal factors for the appearance of various pathogenic bacteria in the mouth that emit an unpleasant odor can also be excessive consumption of sweets;
Lack of oral hygiene - since children generally do not like to brush their teeth and do it infrequently, an unpleasant odor appears, because without regular brushing of teeth, bacteria begin to accumulate in the oral cavity. The smell can be, among other things, a symptom of caries or gum problems;
Fungi in the oral cavity. With a healthy microflora in the mouth, a balance of microbes and fungi is maintained, but if this balance is destabilized, an inflammatory process begins, which is accompanied by a bad odor. An imbalance can occur as a result of poor nutrition (for example, if a child eats a lot of starchy foods). This disease manifests itself in the form of white dots on the tongue, lips or cheeks on the inside. If such signs appear, you need to show the baby to a doctor;
The child has a coating on his tongue. It must be remembered that in addition to teeth, children also need to brush their tongue, because food particles accumulate in the uneven areas of the tongue, which causes bacteria to multiply and a bad odor appears. You need to clean your tongue regularly. Infants should wipe it with damp, clean gauze;
Breathing through the mouth - this process contributes to dry mouth, which can result in a bad odor;
Mucus in the sinuses of the nose. Mucus accumulating in the nasopharynx and sinuses is a fairly common pathology, resulting in bad breath and an unpleasant taste. Children suffering from chronic sinusitis or seasonal allergies are also susceptible to halitosis, because breathing through the mouth dries out the natural moisture in the nasopharynx, and accumulated mucus creates an odor. Individual cold or anti-allergy nasal drops can also provoke its occurrence;
Problems with tonsils in chronic tonsillitis. In this case, pathogenic microbes begin to multiply in them, causing them to become loose. Sometimes white-yellow lumps come out of the tonsils and have a pungent odor. They are usually leftover food that has become stuck in the tonsils and has begun the process of rotting. If this problem occurs, it is necessary to gargle the child’s throat with plain water after each meal. It is also necessary to remove dairy products (cheese and cottage cheese) and seeds from his diet;
Gastrointestinal disorders - due to an increase in the acidity of gastric secretions, the child develops a bad odor from the oral cavity. Sometimes it occurs as a result of eating food that is too heavy for the baby;
Fear, stress or severe emotional stress - this usually causes the mucous membrane to dry out or, on the contrary, excessive salivation begins. Both of these factors can be causative factors for bad odor.

Risk factors

Factors contributing to the development of halitosis in children:

There is constantly dry air in the room where the child is;
The activity and excessive mobility of the baby, due to which he sweats a lot, which causes dry mouth;
The development of any ARVI (with the flu or any cold, the respiratory organs dry out and a lot of mucus accumulates in them, which serves as a source of additional protein for microbes (which, when broken down, forms sulfur compounds);
Various chronic inflammatory processes in the respiratory organs - bronchitis, tonsillitis or pneumonia;
The child has caries or periodontal disease;
Allergic rhinitis, as a result of which excess mucus accumulates in the mouth and nose;
Inflammation of the adenoids.

Symptoms

In the case of diseases of the digestive system, accompanying symptoms are flatulence, changes in stool, regurgitation and belching, as well as constipation.

If inflammation appears in the nasopharynx area, among other signs, folds at the lips and nose stand out, and puffiness under the eyes. Also in this case, the child will snore in his sleep and breathe through his mouth.

In addition, halitosis may be accompanied by the following manifestations:

Loose teeth or toothache;
Unpleasant sensations in the throat (soreness, lump, pain);
Mucus drains down the back of the throat;
Breathing through the nose becomes more difficult;
Nausea, as well as belching and heartburn;
Dry mouth;
Feeling thirsty;
Unpleasant taste;
Coughing up blood.

Forms

There are several types of unpleasant odor that occurs in a baby's mouth.

Acetone or acetic. Such a smell, especially if the baby also has a high temperature, is a very dangerous signal. This symptom occurs in non-diabetic ketoacidosis, which often occurs in children of different ages. In this case, you need to immediately call a doctor and, before his arrival, give the baby to drink boiled water - in small portions (a teaspoon) and often.

A faint odor of acetone may indicate disruptions in the functioning of the pancreas, kidney disease, dysbacteriosis, helminthic infestations, and diabetes. Therefore, if such a symptom appears, it is necessary to be examined by a doctor as soon as possible.

Putrid smell usually occurs as a result of poor oral hygiene, some kind of ENT disease (pharyngitis, sore throat or tonsillitis; against the background of this, the baby has a cough, nasal congestion and a white tongue), caries, stomatitis, diseases of the esophagus or low stomach acidity (the child often complains of abdominal pain). In this case, you need to consult with an ENT specialist, dentist and gastroenterologist, and also ensure that the child brushes his teeth regularly and ensure that he has the correct drinking regime.

The pungent odor of pus is mainly a symptom of chronic inflammation, as well as the proliferation of lymphoid tissue in the child’s nasopharynx. In this case, the tonsils become covered with a coating of pus, resulting in plugs that create a bad odor. Additional symptoms are runny nose, fever, sore throat, and coated tongue. You should consult your pediatrician as treatment with antibiotics may be necessary.

If a child has a sour breath, it is possible that the acidity in the stomach has increased or inflammation has begun there. In this case, you need to examine the baby by a gastroenterologist - perhaps he has gastritis. Another reason may be the reflux of gastric secretions into the child’s esophagus - at the same time, he feels pain in the sternum and heartburn.

When sweetish smell a possible cause may be liver disease. Therefore, it is very important to see a gastroenterologist as soon as possible - such a symptom may indicate hepatitis or cirrhosis of the liver.

Chemical smell may be a sign of disease of the digestive organs (especially the gallbladder). It occurs when there is dysfunction of the bile ducts.

Chlorine smell, to which metal is mixed, is a sign of periodontal disease and high bleeding gums. You should contact your pediatric dentist.

If you smell iodine, you should contact an endocrinologist, as this symptom may be a sign of an excess of iodine in the body. This condition usually occurs due to prolonged exposure to sea, in case of thyroid disease or after taking iodized medications. A similar smell can occur due to infection with a bacterium from the Klebsiella group, which enters the body along with unwashed fruits - it can provoke acute gastrointestinal infections.

If the smell of bile you need to perform an ultrasound of the abdominal organs and pass the necessary general tests - this symptom may be a sign of poor outflow of bile from the gallbladder, cholecystitis and biliary dyskinesia.

The smell of iron in a baby may be a signal of the development of iron deficiency anemia. Therefore, you need to donate blood to determine your hemoglobin level. If the diagnosis is confirmed, you need to take vitamin complexes that contain iron. The reasons may also be high acidity, gastrointestinal diseases, gastritis and dysbacteriosis.

Urine smell indicates the development of diabetes mellitus or kidney disease. It occurs due to a decrease in insulin levels, as well as a disruption in the process of carbohydrate metabolism.

Stool smell– is quite rare and is usually associated with hereditary problems. Occurs in the event of a disorder, intestinal obstruction. It can be diagnosed by a gastroenterologist or endocrinologist.

The smell of rotten eggs, belching and a white coating formed on the tongue are signs of liver disease, peptic ulcers, gastritis, and problems with the outflow of bile. In this case, the child should be taken to a gastroenterologist.

If yeast smell Candidiasis is usually diagnosed. Often this smell accompanies stomach diseases.

Diagnosis of bad breath in a child

During the diagnostic process, an analysis of complaints is carried out, as well as anamnesis - how long ago halitosis began, at what period of the day it usually appears, is there a connection with food intake, are there diseases (in chronic form) of the gums, mouth, nose and sinuses, liver , Gastrointestinal tract; Is there any difficulty breathing through the nose, etc.

The doctor also evaluates the degree of odor using an organoleptic method (its intensity in this case can be assessed in the range of 0-5). Before the procedure, you should not use breath fresheners, mouthwash, drink or eat.

The pediatric dentist examines the tongue and oral cavity (a yellowish or white coating may be observed on the tongue). You should consult a pediatric pulmonologist to rule out lung or bronchial disease, and in addition, a pediatric gastroenterologist and, in some cases, a pediatric otolaryngologist.

Analyzes

A blood test is performed using a biochemical analysis (in this case, the level of glucose, liver and kidney enzymes is analyzed). A stool test is also taken from the patient to identify the possible presence of worm eggs.

Instrumental diagnostics

Instrumental diagnostic procedures are also carried out.

Sulfide monitoring, in which, using a special halimeter device, the doctor calculates the number of sulfur compounds in the air that the patient exhales.

Pharyngoscopy (examination of the throat) and laryngoscopy (examination of the larynx) are performed. In the second case, optical instruments are used for a more detailed examination - a flexible fiber laryngoscope and a rigid laryngoscope.

Traditional and herbal treatment

There are several methods of alternative treatment for halitosis in children.

You can rinse your mouth with a decoction of chamomile, sage, mint or strawberry. You need to take 1 tbsp. ingredient, pour boiling water over it, and then strain when it cools. Drink 3-4 times a day.

To improve gum health, you should use oak bark - this is a well-known fact. You need to pour 1 tbsp boiling water. ingredient and let it brew for half an hour. Next, you need to gargle your throat and mouth with this tincture.

To freshen your breath, you can use chewing gum, which is made according to the traditional method. You need to melt beeswax (100 g) over a fire, then add 10 drops to it. lemon juice, 3 drops. mint oil, as well as 50 g of honey. This mixture must be stirred until a homogeneous mass is obtained, and then cooled and rolled into balls. The resulting “chewing gum” should be chewed several times a day – it helps eliminate unpleasant odor and has a positive effect on the oral cavity.

Take mint (1 tablespoon of crushed leaves) and pour boiling water (0.5 l) over it, and then leave for 30 minutes. Rinse your mouth with the resulting infusion several times a day.

If a bad odor appears due to gastric pathology, it is recommended to continue for 1 month. take wormwood tincture – 1 cup/day.