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Excerpts from
Published Articles About TheraBreath, The California Breath Clinics, and
Dr. Harold Katz
Men's
Journal: May 2001
Redbook Magazine:
February 2001
Men's
Fitness: July 1998
Marketeer
Business Magazine: June, 1996
Sacramento
Bee: July 21, 1995
Allure
Magazine: July 1995
Daily
News: February 7, 1995
LA
Times: March 16, 1994
In addition, Dr.
Katz has been interviewed for dozens of publications such as,
Prevention, Boy's Life, Jump, Teen, FHM, Health Magazine, and many, many
more in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Click
Here For The full List of ALL Publications Where Dr. Katz & TheraBreath Have Appeared
excerpted from: Men's
Journal, May 2001
"See
You Later, Lazarus Breath" in
the "Problem Man" Column, p. 78
Problem Man
tried cutting back on the garlic bread and five-alarm chili. His soul,
as far as he knew, was not rotting. He brushed his teeth twice a day, he
flossed, gargled with mouthwash, and even kept a spare toothbrush in his
desk drawer at work for when he found himself consuming a chalupa at
lunch. And yet, like an estimated 25 percent of Americans, Problem Man
had bad breath. His wife said so. His friends and colleagues proffered
Altoids a bit too enthusiastically. You, dear reader, should be glad
you're just reading this instead of having heard it face to face from
Problem Man before he started getting help.
The first
thing he learned was that, aside from the very small percentage of cases
brought on by serious digestive ailments, diabetes, or liver disease
(none of which, surprisingly Problem Man has), almost all cases of
chronic bad breath start right in the mouth, with an oversexed colony of
sulfur-producing bacteria. Fortunately, oxygen kills bacteria, and water
contains plenty of oxygen. So now Problem Man douses the little buggers
with a big bottle of Poland Spring that he keeps on his desk, which
saves him a trip to the water cooler.
Next, Problem
Man consulted his dentist, who admitted she'd been waiting for Problem
Man to say something. Though she gave his choppers a clean bill of
health (if you need a root canal, chances are you have bad breath), she
suggested he invest in a plastic tongue scraper ($4 at most drugstores)
to clean out the little valleys on his tongue that server as bacterial
flophouses. At first Problem Man felt a little awkward using his
scraper - doing the back of his tongue in particular brought on such an
intense gag reflex that you might have thought he was watching the
Celine Dion episode of VH1's Behind the Music - but he's gotten used to
the twice a day practice, and now frankly, it's kind of a cheap thrill.
Mainly, his
dentist encouraged Problem Man to knock off those alcohol-based
mouthwashes immediately, since alcohol dehydrates the mouth, which can
only makes things worse after the initial, fleeting minty-fresh
odor-masking. Instead she recommended he try an industrial-strength
rinse like TheraBreath.
It's hardcore stuff, yet no more pungent than an ordinary drugstore
mouthwash, and every time he use it Problem Man can practically feel the
stuff bum-rushing the bacteria in his mouth.
TheraBreath's
ability to slay even the hardest colonies of sulfur-belching bacteria
comes from Oxyd-8,
an oxygenating ingredient. Although you can buy the mouth rinse
separately, for a well-rounded approach to hog breath try the starter
kit ($40; freshbreath.com or 800-973-7374), which includes a tongue
scraper, breath spray, toothpaste, concentrated PowerDrops, AktivOxigen
tablets, a supersoft toothbrush, oxygenating Chewing Gum, and The Bad
Breath Bible.
For the on-line
version (with graphics), check out: http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0105/problem_badbreath.html
Redbook
Magazine: February 2001
From "12
Most Embarrassing Beauty Questions Answered" by Amy M. Keller (pg 100-101)
Question:
Why does my
breath smell despite constant brushing?
Answer:
Although brushing will help prevent cavities (so don't stop scrubbing),
it can only mask bad breath, since the problem really lies within your
throat and tongue, not your teeth. When the bacteria in your mouth
lose access to oxygen (which can happen when you use alcohol-based
mouthwashes, take certain prescription medications for depression or
high blood pressure, or simply sit with your mouth shut for a long
time), they emit smelly sulfur compounds says Harold
Katz DDS, founder of The California Breath Clinic in Los Angeles;
this is the same principle at work with foot odor. Eating garlic and
onion also make your breath stink because they contain - surprise -
those same sulfur compounds.
The Fix:
Contrary to
popular belief, a tongue scraper won't banish bad breath - sulfur
compounds cannot be removed manually. Instead, keep your mouth
oxygenated by drinking water throughout the day and using an
over-the-counter oral rinse with chlorine dioxide in both the a.m. and
the p.m. to neutralize sulfur compounds. (Try
TheraBreath Oral Rinse).
Chewing on oxygen-rich vegetables, like parsley and celery, can also
diminish odors. If these tricks don't work, see your dentist.
Reprint from
an article in:
The Los Angeles Times: March 16, 1994
"Breathing Easier" by Mark Ehrman
For Many people, the straw they hold at The California Breath Clinic is the last one.
"They've gone to their dentist. They've gone to their doctors. They've tried all the
medicines and rinses, but nothing seems to work," says dentist Harold Katz. Last
March, he founded the only clinic on the West Coast (and now Nationwide through the
Breatherapy Kit) dedicated to combating Halitosis.
Most cases of chronic bad breath, Katz says, are caused by volatile sulfur compounds
produced by anaerobic bacteria flourishing in the mouth. At their 5 clinics, patients
exhale through a straw attached to a device that measures the sulfur fumes. Anything over
70 is a problem; some people have clocked more than 800, a level that can be apparent
across a room. The germs that produce the sulfur compounds often resist the usual
toothpaste-floss-mouthwash regimen, so Katz gives patients a patented toothpaste and rinse
that is produced for them. They contain a chemical, which virtually sterilizes the mouth.
Most patients are halitosis-free in four to six weeks, Katz says.
The cost of a complete check-up, gum evaluation, treatment, and follow-ups runs $495. But
for the thousands of clients who've been bringing their malodorous breath to their
centers, located in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento,
it's a small price to pay. (Recently Dr. Katz added a home treatment for a much, much
lower price, about $95.) For details, you can call him at 1-888-FRESH-88
(1-888-373-7488).
"It's the worst frustration and humiliation," says a hypnotherapist who blew a
400-plus. "I'm by nature gregarious and love people, so before this, I was somewhat
uncomfortable." Not to mention her friends and clients.
Reprint
from a published article in:
The Los Angeles Daily News: February 7, 1995
"Breath of Fresh Air About Halitosis" by Brett Pauly (Daily News Staff Writer)
As a salesman, Len Calderone couldn't afford to let his breath get between him and a
potential client. He would gargle and brush his teeth three times a day, but twenty
minutes later, halitosis would be back with a vengeance. "I didn't want to take a
chance of losing a sale because of it," said Calderone of Studio City, who works in
retail credit services. "I was constantly chewing gum and sucking on mints. I should
have bought stock in Wrigley's. I always felt so awkward. And all that was doing anyway
was masking it; I still had a problem." He tried a vegetarian diet for six weeks
hearing that animal products cause bad breath; it didn't help. But the final straw came
when his wife began to complain fervently. "She couldn't believe it," said
Calderone, 44 who has two children, ages 9 and 12. "I would have liked her to sleep
in the same bad with me every once in a while." She said to seek a professional.
Over the summer, Calderone took his troubles to the California Breath Clinic in Los
Angeles, one of several dental facilities across the globe that recently have begun
battling oral malodor with cutting edge technology and potent medicine. "People come
to us when they are at wit's end," said Harold Katz, 45, a dentist and bacteriologist
at the center, billed as the first facility on the West Coast with the primary function of
treating halitosis. "They'll say, 'My wife won't sleep with me, etc' and the get even
more specific than that! Almost all of them say dentists can't find anything wrong or
can't treat them. Then they go to ear, nose, and throat doctors who can't see any problems
in the sinuses or throat. But Katz's patients most assuredly do have bad breath problems.
As he has a tool that allows him to gage precisely how much. The machine, known as the
Halimeter, is so new that many doctors and dentists are unfamiliar with it. It monitors
Volatile Sulfur Compounds, the principal cause of chronic halitosis, produced by bacteria
in the mouth. There's a big difference between intermittent food odors and chronic
halitosis."
We're talking about people who can brush their teeth 25 times a day, use a gallon of
mouthwash and still have a problem.
At least half of North Americans contract bad breath during their lives, according to a
1991 report by two Canadian dentists. Some estimates are as high as 65%, the report said.
Of people with halitosis, which becomes more likely the older you get, 95% of cases can be
linked to anaerobic bacteria. Most sufferers can breathe easy-virtually all these cases
are treatable at the center. Those who end up at the California Breath Clinic see dentists
who after performing a complete diagnosis and testing procedures, prescribes medicated
"industrial strength mouthwash and toothpaste" under a specific treatment plan
for each patient. These preparations are only available through the Breath Clinic. Katz,
who started the Breath Clinic last year, said he is keeping a computerized tally of
Halimeter readings from the thousands of patients treated so far and will try to have his
findings published in a scientific journal soon.
Charles Sweeten. 31, a sewing-machine mechanic who lives in Burbank, responded to an
article about The California Breath Clinic last October after his fiancée complained abut
his breath. "She'd say, 'Your breath smells,' make jokes, bother me and mess with me
all the time," said Sweeten. "For her to tell me that, I just stopped kissing
her. That was it. She never told me not to. took it upon myself I mean. if you smell
someone's breath, do want to kiss that person? For me, mentally, it was a lot of
stress." His initial sulfur rating was around 220. After a few weeks of treatment,
the reading was below detectable. "It was most definitely worth it, and I don't even
have insurance! " Sweeten said. "My self esteem would have been down for the
rest of my life. I wouldn't have the confidence I have now. "I don't even have a
second thought when I'm talking to somebody face to face or even when I'm meeting
people."
Fran Calderone, wife of salesman Len also vouches for it. "It's always nice to be
close to someone who has fresh breath." said Fran, 43, production vice-president for
a cable network. "It makes everybody happy because he's in a good mood - the whole
family, including the two dogs. Actually, I have a dachshund who has the worst breath in
the world. She need to go to the California Breath Clinic, for sure."
Reprint from
a published article in:
The Sacramento Bee: July 21, 1995
"Is Your Breath So Bad You're Still Waiting To Exhale?"
by David Barton (Bee Staff Writer)
Of course, most people are too polite to say anything. But you just know they're thinking,
"Whew!" "People are usually nice. They don't tell you straight to your
face," says Jan A. of Benecia. "But you know when people offer you mints or gum,
or turn their faces away when you talk. You just know."
Jan doesn't want her last name used, she says. because she's a bit embarrassed.
Embarrassed that, at age 42, she still has a problem with bad breath. One recent day,
Jan's breath isn't noticeably offensive to the casual nose. But she assures a visitor that
it's bad, and it's been bad for a long time. "It's a hard thing to live with,"
she says, sitting in Dr. Harold Katz's examining chair on the ground floor of the Mills
Building in San Francisco's financial district.
Katz, a dentist based in California, has spent the last two years opening branches of The
California Breath Clinic. At those clinics, he claims, he's had a 99 percent success rate
in taming "incurable" bad breath. Ron S. of Daly City is a patient in the San
Francisco office. He has come to Katz with the same problem, the same experiences and the
same emotional baggage as Jan A. "It was devastating," Ron, 41, says of the
first time he was told that he had bad breath. He was still a teenager. "It was like
being turned down by a girl you've asked out on a date. At least, that's the type of
feeling it is to me." Ron has carried that emotional devastation with him for 25
years, reinforced by comments from well-meaning friends later in life. Jan, who recognized
her problem at 16, has similar stories.
Jan and Ron are not dirty people. They brush their teeth after every meal. They floss,
usually 2-3 times a day. They gargled with mouthwash until they realized that just made
their breath worse. "I've tried everything," says Jan. "If this doesn't
work, just give me the Golden Gate Bridge." She's joking of course, but it's a dark
humor born of desperation. For those with chronic bad breath - not mere garlic or coffee
breath but musty, lover-losing, confidence crushing, hygiene resistant halitosis - the
options run out quickly.
And yet Jan and Ron and thousands like them turn their heads in shame- and out of
consideration for others - when they speak to people at close range. "The more it's
on your mind, the more it undermines your confidence in almost any social situation."
says Ron, who is clearly pained by his problem. "You begin to wonder if there's
something on your breath when you get close to people, so you begin to think.
"Perhaps I shouldn't get too close to people." Instead of walking right up to
people, you tend to stand six or seven feet away. "It's uncomfortable, but you don't
want to take the chance."
Katz has heard stories like Jan's and Ron's a hundred times, that's because he says, the
problem of for most people with chronic bad breath is the same: They have a peculiar
biochemical reaction to certain bacteria, which produce a sulfur gas in quantities that
most people don't have to deal with. The bacteria - which Katz has identified as
Fusobacterium nucleatum and actinobacillus Actinomycetum Comitans - are present in
everyone's mouth and help with the early stages of digestion. Those bacteria are
anaerobic, which means that they thrive in dry, low-oxygen environments. taking certain
medications, drinking alcohol - including 28% in a mouthwash like Listerine -fasting and
doing intense exercise all contribute to a dry mouth, which provides a perfect breeding
ground for the bacteria. Age is another factor, Katz explains, though he is quick to point
out that he has had patients as young as 6.
Still, most of us don't have a problem with those bacteria. But some people, for unknown
reasons, have an extreme reaction to them. (It could be due to medications, such as Sulfa
Drugs or antibiotics, that may have been taken in the past or hormonal changes. In some
cases it even tends to run in families.) And those who do have the reaction are highly
aware of it. But most of them don't know what to do about it. For them, Katz offers a
course of treatment that includes a test with machine called a Halimeter, which detects
and measures sulfur gas in parts per billion.
Seventy parts per billion is the threshold above which a patient's sulfur odor can be
smelled by other people, and the first visit to Katz's clinic is used to measure the
condition. Jan and Ron both measure roughly in the 160 ppb range. Katz says many patients
have around 300 ppb, and the highest he's ever tested was measured at 1,010 ppb. Once that
number is established, Katz offers a program of self-treatment with toothpaste and
mouthwash that focuses on cleansing the tongue, which along with the back of the throat,
is where most of the bacteria reside and reproduce.
The chemical agent that deals with the bacteria is a special version of stabilized
Chlorine Dioxide, called Oxyd-VIII, which has been properly pH balanced. It is still used
to purify drinking water in European cities such as Paris and Dusseldorf, Germany. The
active ingredient breaks open the bacteria and neutralizes the sulfur gases before they
escape into the patient's mouth - and from there to the public's noses.
The treatment, which Katz says usually requires 3 office visits, costs $495. But both Jan
and Ron say they would gladly pay 2 or 3 times that it if it gives them the relief they
seek. They have tried everything else. The procedure that Jan and Ron have to undergo is
painless - mostly scrubbing the tongue, flossing the teeth and rinsing the mouth with
Katz's products that contain stabilized chlorine dioxide. The process must be repeated 2-3
times daily. But for Jan and Ron, the effort is not a hindrance. "The procedure
doesn't bother me," Jan says. "It's not much more than I'm already doing."
"The biggest problem I have is in explaining it to other dentists," says Katz
when responding to the suggestion from other dentists that his treatment is nothing
special. "That's because everyone is stuck on the idea that chronic bad breath means
sinus or stomach problems, which is what they've learned in dental or medical school. They
don't have time to look into new treatments -they're too busy running a business - so
they're running on what they learned a long time ago."
But Jan A. doesn't need the ADA's seal of approval ... She says her breath already feels
fresher, and her husband agrees. And Mary (no last initial, please), 45, who has already
been back for her second visit, reported a drop in her Halimeter reading from 242 ppb to
43 ppb. She says that after 15 years of suffering bad breath, the results are palpable.
"My breath is completely different," she says by phone from her home in Santa
Rosa. "I can tell that I don't have bad breath, and my husband definitely can tell.
"It's quite amazing." In fact, she still isn't quite used to the change. "I
ask my husband how it is every day!" she exclaims.
Meanwhile, Katz is heading full steam ahead. In addition to plans for new outlets of the
California Breath Clinics in Chicago, Washington DC, and other cities to be announced -
and his own line of toothpaste and mouthwash, he's working on television and radio
commercials, and a homecare kit with an instructional video. He's thinking about writing a
book on how to tell folks that they have bad breath without hurting their feelings. He's
even turned down an invitation to endorse an established company's toothbrushes. It would
be the Dr. Harold Katz model," he says with a chuckle. "Like a Mickey Mantle
Model."
From a published article
in:
Allure Magazine: September, 1995
"Save Your Breath"
by R. Daniel Foster
A 29 year old pre-med student sits in a dental office, shielding her mouth with her right
hand as she talks. "I think my breath has been getting worse during the last 6
months," she mumbles to the dentist. " I see people backing away, but I'm not
sure why." Recently she stopped dating. After trying everything from breath mints to
gum surgery, she has come to Dr. Harold Katz of the California Breath Clinic- in Los
Angeles (with 6 other offices nationally) to find out exactly how bad her breath smells
(pretty bad she's been told by others). Now she desperately hopes to discover what she can
do about it.
Halitosis sufferers have always taken a hint a from the body language of others, or
followed the subjective noses of friends and mates, Now there's an objective test. Harold
Katz, a dentist who co-founded the California Breath Clinic last year, says his machine
measures sulfide compounds emitted by bacteria, which cause almost all of the cases of bad
breath. A reading of 70 or higher tells clients that their breath is detectable by others.
Katz has had patients top the 900 mark with a blast of gas that could be whiffed across a
room.
The stigma attached to the problem is, in fact, considerable and may explain why some
people go to bizarre lengths - Ineffective Breath Capsules, CAT scans, enemas, root
canals, removal of all teeth - to find the source of their Halitosis. Also, the
repercussions of the problem on our lives can be surprisingly profound. "One woman
passed up law school because she was afraid of talking to clients." Harold Katz
reports a new twist on a prenuptial agreement. A woman sent her fiancée over to Katz's
breath clinic a week before their marriage. She had refused to go through with the
ceremony until the air was cleared.
After proper testing and examination, Katz provides his patients with oral products,
containing a special extra potent version of stabilized Chlorine Dioxide, called
TheraBreath., which he has specifically balanced to neutralize more sour, bitter tastes
than any other product. His products are currently available through an appointment or the
purchase of a Breatherapy Kit by calling a toll-free number 1-800-97-FRESH.
Regardless of why the bacteria are in the mouth, the smelly compounds they emit put up a
tough fight against regular mouthwashes. A 1992 Consumer Reports test of 15 mouthwashes
found that they masked the odor for only 10 minutes to an hour; breath mints and sprays
fared worse.
Most dentists and researchers are somewhat skeptical of BreathAsure, which contains
parsley seed oil. The digestive tract is not responsible for bad breath," says David
Alepis MD, chief of gastroenterology at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis. "I'm not aware that parsley seed oil has unique properties that would
neutralize bad breath." Even though he's keeping his own research confidential,
Anthony Raissen of BreathAsure maintains that his product works. (Katz adds that after
treating thousands of patients, he has yet to find even one patient that had any relief
from BreathAsure whatsoever in fact, many of his patients claimed to have ended up with
indigestion, higher cholesterol levels, less money in their pocket, plus their original
bad breath.")
Even the most compulsive tooth and tongue brushers can have a bad breath day if their
physiology, works against them. In some women, for example, the fluctuations in body
chemistry that accompany the menstrual cycle can affect mouth bacteria. At the beginning
of menstruation and during ovulation, the production of protein in saliva increases,
giving bacteria the ability to produce even more Sulfur compounds. Also, saliva irrigates
the mouth, flushing out sulfur compounds, so anything that dries the mouth can cause odor.
In fact, one reason wily many people experience morning breath is that the mouth dries out
during the night, allowing the gases to build up. Another saliva inhibitor is non-stop
talking. Harold Katz sees many teachers and attorneys at his clinics. "They talk all
day long and their mouths out. This also happens with people who talk on the phone a
lot," he says.
Katz cautions consumers not to let the stigma of having bad breath paralyze their lives.
His advice to sufferers is to remember that they are only human. One of Katz's patients
worried so compulsively about her breath from the age of 20 on that she decided she would
never get married, says Katz. The woman is now 75 years old and still single.
 July,
1998
Beat Bad Breath...By R. Daniel Foster
When Tom Bailey began suffering from bad breath at age
15, everybody let him know. "Girls would tell me my breath stank," says Bailey,
who lives in Northern California. "I tried everything--mouthwashes, sprays, chewing
gum--I even had my tonsils removed. I felt helpless." Decades passed before Bailey
found the help he needed. Then he walked into the San Francisco branch of The California
Breath Clinics, one of a dozen facilities that have sprouted up recently to fight dragon
breath. Along with dentists who treat halitosis, they're bringing new hope to the
estimated 25 million Americans who suffer from this socially toxic malady. The clinic's
founder, dentist Harold Katz, had Bailey breathe into a tube
connected to a device called a Halimeter, a breath-measuring machine that dentists began
using about four years ago. His readout was sky high. As Bailey learned, most bad-breath
problems occur when your mouth harbors a surplus of anaerobic bacteria, which emit smelly
sulfur compounds.
"The bacteria feast on protein found in plaque, food debris and dead
cells," says Katz. Some people are plagued with an extra dose of this bacteria, which
can hide in the mouth even if you brush regularly. And trying to banish this bacterial
smell with regular mouthwashes can be like using a squirt gun to put out a forest fire.
New Solutions
Fortunately, the oral hygiene program that could change your life is fairly
simple. In addition to brushing and flossing, Bailey now rinses with chlorine dioxide, an
antimicrobial agent, and scrapes his tongue every day. Products including Katz's
TheraBreath, contain chlorine dioxide in a stabilized form, which experts say becomes
active in the mouth.
Bailey was told to gently scrape his tongue twice each day, paying particular
attention to the back third, while using the TheraBreath products.
The Sweet Smell of Success
Parsley capsules, mouthwashes, sprays and mints add up to a hefty half-billion
dollars in annual U.S. sales, but guys with serious breath problems will find them a
short-term solution at best. For them, a proper hygiene program is well worth the extra
effort and expense.
Many, like Bailey, had given up hope until Katz's new
TheraBreath treatment surfaced. "I can finally get close to people," Bailey
says. "I call myself 'the new man' now. That's what the confidence has done for
me."
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