Bad taste in the mouth

With a bad taste in the mouth, you have a persistent bitter, salty or metallic taste in your mouth, regardless of what you are eating at the moment. Acid from the stomach flowing back into the mouth, poor mouth hygiene, bacterial infections in the mouth, and medicines can cause bad taste. It may take months to years for this symptom to resolve.

Bad taste in your mouth may have different causes, including:

• Acid from the stomach flowing back into the mouth or gas from the stomach in reflux disease.
• Drinking alcohol and smoking may also change the taste in your mouth.
• Some medications that help treat infection, cancer and depression may change the taste of your mouth to a metallic taste.
• Some medications make your mouth dry, leading to an infection and taste changes.
• The problem may also come from the communication between your brain and taste buds on your tongue.
• Health conditions such as common cold, stomach ulcers, indigestion and liver infection may give your mouth a bitter, metallic or sour taste.

If you,

• Still have the bad tastes after paying more attention to mouth hygiene.
• Have a dull, long-term pain with the bad taste.
• Have trouble swallowing food or breathing.
• Experienced taste changes immediately after using medicines or happened after being exposed to light used for treating cancer.

You can do little to prevent a bad taste in your mouth if it is not caused by medicine or an infection. You can improve your oral hygiene by regularly brushing your teeth, chewing sugar-free gum or mints frequently, drinking lots of clean water, and quitting smoking.

• Self-care
• • Brush your teeth and floss at least once a day.
  • Use a tongue scraper on your tongue especially if it is discoloured.
  • Avoid foods that can cause acids from the stomach flowing to the mouth.
  • Drink a lot of clean water to prevent dry mouth. If you are taking drugs that may cause dry mouth, you can suck on chips of ice block often or chew sugar-free chewing gum.
  • Use an antiseptic mouthwash to rinse out your mouth after meals.
  • Cut down on alcohol use and stop smoking.

• Medical treatment
  • Paying attention to and treating the underlying cause is important.
  • In some cases, bad taste in the mouth may not be reversible, like when bad taste results from damage during use of light to treat cancer.
  • Your healthcare provider may also withdraw your medicine if (s)he is convinced that this may be the cause.

Bad taste in the mouth can be a source of anxiety or fear since it may go on for a while. In some cases, the underlying condition is treatable, and this will reverse the symptom. In some patients where many causes may be present, patience and collaboration with your healthcare worker will allow quick resolution.