This might be weird

[Momo]

Over the past year or 2 years so i’ve deveopped quite an odd obsession, and that’s breath. More particularly the smell of breath, let me explain. I’ve always been obsessed with having fresh breath, i avoid any foods with garlic or onion or anything that can cause bad odour, i brush my teeth 3 times a day atleast and floss after i eat anything. I also keep a pack of gum on me at all times. But sometimes i feel like I still have bad breath, but if i ask my friend will tell me it’s fine (this is a friend who does not care and would not lie to make my feelings better). I’ve asked my doctor and he says my oral hygiene is above average and i’m healthy orally. I read online that some people can hallucinate smells almost like they would hear voices or see things, so my question is, has a doctor ever seen a patient like this? Or is it not a hallucination and should I be checking for something deeper to know the root of the issue. Sorry if this sounds quite odd but i could not find much online and just wanted to hear some opinions

 

[Busybee]

Well it's possible but less common to have food trapped in tonsils or a oesophageal motility disorder which means food doesn't go down to your stomach as fast as normal. The type of bad breath from teeth is very distinctive and other people would wince if they smelled it. If you have no decay and floss then that is enough.

You can diagnose the other conditions quite easily. In terms of motility you'd have had some symptom of food coming back up when you've eaten a big meal. It can be diagnosed with a barium swallow. There's not much you can do other than avoid eating too much in one go. The breath would only smell an hour or so after eating. Your doctor can diagnose whether food is getting trapped in tonsils. You can also have bad breath from a long-standing throat infection, but you'd already know if that was the case.

Some people scrub their tongue as you can get fungus building up on it. I find that weird and pointless but some like to do it. I'd avoid mouthwashes. They say that you can tell what your mouth smells like by licking the back of your hand and then sniffing it!

But if you can't pinpoint exactly where the smell is coming from then it's likely to be normal and you just have an aversion to the smell of your own mouth. Perhaps rather than hallucinating you may have a particularly sensitive nose. Although you would be able to smell your own body odour and that of others if that's the case.