Hey all,
My dad has a very bad odor coming from his mouth. It has gotten so bad my aunt- his caretaker- says she can't watch tv in the same room for too long. What is this? I know he is cleaning all the time. He had radiation treatments in the back of his throat- base of tounge. He is in a lot of pain lately and can barely swallow. Just trying to figure this out. One of many problems. Thanks.

Sounds like it could be thrush--bad mouth odor is one of the symptoms of thrush anyway, along with pain. He should go see his doctor since he will need good meds to treat it.

Nelie

It could also be symptomatic of an infection. I would see an ENT immediately. Even if its thrush, it needs to be dealt with promptly. Thrush can be fatal if it goes systemic.

Karen,

Besides thrush, other possibilities are that no matter how hard he is trying to clean his teeth, he may not be able to do a good job. The odor can be coming from bacteria buildup on his teeth, gums and tongue. There are many people I treat that have terrible mouth odors and they are not going through what your father is. With all the pain he is in, I'm sure he is not able to take care of his mouth as well as he did before.

As stated above, get him checked out by his doctor.

Jerry

Wow, I had no idea that this could be that serious. Thank you again. We will look into this.