white tongue, bad breath for a long time now

I've had this bad breath since maybe i was 14ish.  I have a white tongue that doesn't even go away when I brush.  There's no pain, and doesn't seem to be any off-taste.
Everything I've tried only masks temporarily.  I think it's very foul smelling.  what could it be?

[kristi8464]

I had a friend in elementary school who had the same problem, she went to the dentist and had a "rotten" tooth, basically a tooth that needed to be extracted because of an infection in the tooth. She had no idea! You should also get a tongue scraper and floss often. I always brush my teeth after every meal and use a product called "Smart Breath" that you can get from any drugstore. If that doesn't work, your dentist may have a good solution. Good luck!

[Ashington]

Hi, i am a dental nurse and do a little work with oral medician,
You should try using corsadil mouthwash for a week or so, this is an antibacterial mouth wash wit helps with ulsers etc!

Only use this for a mounth or so because it does stain your teeth if used for a long length of time!

[stateofconfusion]

if you are having bad breath episodes, I suggest getting a dental exam FIRST.  9 times outta 10 bad breath is from tooth decay.  And keep in mind, not all tooth decay can be seen when you look in your mouth... that's why it's important to get exams (x-rays and so on).   Also your 'white tongue'.   if it's not painful or anything, you might just have long filiform papillae.  Which is normal, just a variation of it.  EVERYBODY has filiform papillae and fungi form papillae...  if you see generally healthy people with 'redder tongues' they TYPICALLY just have more fungiform than filiform.  And in your case..it's hard to attempt to suggest what's 'wrong', but really sounds like you may have a little more filiform papillae than others.   Do certainly get an exam..see how healthy your teeth are.  IF teeth are okay, my next question is.. .how are yout tonsils?  Do you get sore throats often?  Have a classmate who had to have her tonsils removed because they had 'gone bad'... They would 'catch' food particles and that food would just sit there and STINK, kinda like a stinkin infection.  

Interested to know what your dentist says...

[whattodo28]

I often find food particles in my tonsils.... but would this be the cause of very bad breath (smelly saliva) and white tongue?  I notice white food particles in my tonsils a lot

[stateofconfusion]

yep...that could be a cause... think about it... if your tonsils have smelly food caught in them and your breath travels right past them to exit your mouth...then....

and the white tongue, like I said...be sure to check with your doctor, but sounds like longer filiform papillae- a variation of normal.