Halitosis, more commonly known simply as bad breath, is one of the most embarrassing of all medical conditions. In fact, even though it seems to be a dental condition because it emanates from its location in the oral cavity, it is indeed also a medical problem with many medical ramifications.

The embarrassment factor comes from the fact that the sufferer, in most cases, is not even aware that anything is medically or dentally wrong because, unfortunately, the major symptom of halitosis is that of foul smelling breath which the sufferer is unable to smell on herself.

First and foremost, in order to determine if one suffers from this antisocial syndrome, there is a simple test which will give you an immediate answer. All you need to do is floss your teeth before you brush them in the morning and then smell the dental floss. There is a great difference between morning breath and the breath of a halitosis sufferer, which simply smells rotten - and the dental floss test is free, easy and simple.

There are many causes of halitosis and some of them have been linked to very serious medical conditions and threats to one's wellbeing, so one should eliminate the easy symptoms first. The rotten smell could be linked to tooth decay or gum disease, so the first thing you should do once you have detected a smell is make an appointment with your dentist to have a check up and, of course, to attend to any problems that may be found. In more than 90% of cases, by simply having a proper cleaning done by an oral hygienist to remove any built up plaque; and fillings done if decay is detected, will eliminate any bad smell caused by tooth or gum problems.

The remaining less than 10% of halitosis cases could be caused by a dry specimen container mouth, often the result of certain medications; and, in very extreme incidences, by oral cancers.

Should the cause of the halitosis be medical rather than dental, there are some rather serious conditions that would need to be checked to see if any one of them could be the cause - among them any of the following 10 potential causes of the complaint in women:

Some of the above listed conditions can be very easily medicated with, for instance, antibiotics to clear up any infection which may be causing the bad smell; but other conditions, such as diabetes and chronic diseases of the internal organs, need to be constantly checked and monitored by medical professionals and testing done regularly to keep the condition and symptoms under control. Any cancers, whether oral or located elsewhere, will need to be treated by a specialist oncologist, but bear in mind that the chances of your halitosis being caused by such a serious disease is extremely remote.