Most of us have wondered if you can tell if you have bad breath. It seems that people who have halitosis often seem unaware that they have it, and it is up to some well-meaning friend to let them in on the bad news. If no one is brave enough to do this, the problem can go on and on. Well, halitosis specialists tell us that it is, in fact, impossible to smell your own bad breath. The smells of our own bodies tend to blend into the background so that we can smell things in the world around us - which means that other people notice our foul smelling breath when we do not.

This article will suggest some ways that you can test yourself for bad breath. They range from very simple to quite complicated and expensive - start with the simple ones first. You may find you get the answer without too much effort. Let's face it, the quickest way to tell if you have bad breath is to breathe in someone's face and ask their opinion. Obviously, you should select your guinea pig carefully: choose someone you trust to tell you the truth and be sensitive to your feelings at the same time. You may want to try the experiment several times to determine if there is an ongoing odor problem, or if it is transient and possibly related to foods or health status. Some advice suggests that you ask a child: you will probably get a very honest reply, if not a sensitive one.

Another simple way to test yourself for bad breath is to use a sort of self-sampling technique. Take a sample of the smell of your tongue by licking the inside of your wrist or the back of your hand. Wait for it to dry, then smell the licked area. If it smells bad you have bad breath. This method just samples the front of your tongue however - sample the back region by rubbing it with a piece of clean gauze, or scraping it gently with the edge of a plastic spoon. Smell the material collected to tell if you have bad breath.

You can actually buy kits and equipment commercially to test yourself for bad breath. Though this can obviously be expensive, an occasional use of these products combined with a regular routine for combating the problem might be a worthwhile way to tell if you have bad breath on an ongoing basis, especially if you do have a problem with halitosis. Products include meters for measuring volatile sulfur compounds on the breath and test vials for sampling the material on the tongue. Individual tests cost in the range of ten or twelve dollars each, while the meter will cost much more but may save money in the long term.

Of course, halitosis specialists have more refined equipment for conducting these tests, and these professionals are probably the best people to give you the definitive answer on the quality of your breath. If you've tried to test yourself for bad breath but you're still not comfortable with the answers, or you want an objective, trained person to tell if you have bad breath, you might want to try these services, You should know however, that even in professional settings, the "smell test" is still the most accurate and commonly used means of judging the odor of someone's breath. You shouldn't have to pay someone to do that.