Laser Technique Used to Treat Bad Breath

ISLAMABAD: If brushing and mouthwash don’t improve bad breath, an Israeli scientist may have the solution -- laser treatment.

Yehuda Finkelstein of Meir Hospital at the Sapir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel has successfully treated 53 patients suffering from bad breath, or halitosis, with a new, 15-minute technique.

"Now there’s a laser treatment for one of the worst forms of halitosis, a rarely diagnosed version wafting relentlessly from the tonsils," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

Bad breath is usually caused by the build-up of bacteria around the gums and teeth which release foul-smelling gases but in more serious cases bacteria breed in grooves in the tonsils.

"It’s the ideal place for them," Finkelstein told the weekly science magazine. The laser treatment hits the infected tissue in the tonsils and creates scar tissue that seals the grooves so bacteria cannot grow in them.

More than half of the patients were cured after one treatment, while the others required two or three more sessions, according to the magazine.