In today's column about getting rid of bad breath, one thing I didn't include that surprised me the most is that even your dentist might not tell you that you have bad breath.
Dentists are in business too, and they don't want to drive away customers by telling an unsuspecting patient that he/she has bad breath. They might broach the subject in a less threatening way by asking "Are you concerned about malodor?" on the written questionnaire filled out before the appointment, said Dr Todd Marshall, a dentist who specializes in treating malodor at the Facial Pain Center in Edina,
But there's another delicate issue to deal with. Some dentists and hygienists sometimes find themselves in an awkward position when patients complain about their bad breath, but no problem is found. "The concern is real but the problem is not," said Pat Lenton, a dental hygienist and a research fellow at the University of Minneota School of Dentistry. It's a small percentage of patients with such a condition, she said, but the whole issue is a delicate one.
For more information about scheduling an appointment at the School of Dentistry at the University of Minnesota, call 612-625-5441. If you're a new patient, you'll have to jump through a bunch of hoops. The U might be about 30 percent cheaper when you have students doing the work, but the appointments take at least twice as long.
