The human mouth is a disgusting place, capable of emitting awful smells. Viruses, fungi, and possibly more than 1,000 species of bacteria live inside this dark, moist orifice. Nestled into the crevices between your gums and teeth, these microbes can sometimes cause serious health problems like tooth decay and gum disease. These conditions can also make breath smell putrid, so one quick, easy way to check on your oral health is to smell your own breath. If it stinks, it could be a clue that something’s wrong.
The human mouth is a disgusting place
But smelling your own breath is anatomically challenging. I’ve tried breathing into my cupped hand and sniffing the escaping fumes as fast as I can, but it doesn’t work very well. A Silicon Valley startup called Breathometer wants to solve that problem. Its FDA-approved class I medical device, called Mint, looks like a giant Altoid with a removable mouthpiece. It syncs with an app via Bluetooth, it “works with your smartphone to help you understand and improve your oral health,” the Mint website says.
Breathometer began selling Mint for $99.99 at the end of September. They loaned me a device that I test drove for about a month. Here’s how it works: following the instructions in the app, you keep your mouth shut for 30 seconds to give the noxious gasses a chance to accumulate inside. Then you bite down on Mint’s removable mouthpiece, but you don’t actually blow into it. Instead, the Mint sucks out a sample of mouth air and runs it past electrochemical sensors that detect certain sulfur-containing molecules. Those measurements are then converted into an oral health grade: an ‘A’ means your oral hygiene routine is working just fine. And an ‘F’ means make an appointment with your dentist. Like, now.
Vjeran Pavic/The Verge
There are a lot of things that make breath stink, including forgotten food and gastrointestinal disorders. But Mint only measures what are called “volatile sulfur compounds,” which can give bad breath that distinct eau de swamp aroma of overcooked cabbage and rotten eggs. Scientists have long associated these sulfur compounds with a serious gum disease called periodontitis. It affects nearly half of adults over 30, and while it’s still not exactly clear how it starts, what seems to happen is that bacteria accumulate in between gums and teeth. Those bacteria and the body’s immune response to them can make gums swell, bleed, and pull back from the teeth. Eventually, periodontal disease can destroy the bone and gum tissue that keep teeth from falling out.