Taste in the mouth is the sensation of a sour, bitter, or other unpleasant taste for no apparent reason. The symptom occurs after errors in the diet, with diseases of the oral cavity and ENT organs, pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. Unpleasant sensations develop with intoxication, endocrine and neurological disorders. To establish the etiological factor, laboratory tests, FGDS, radiography, ENT examination are carried out. To eliminate the symptom, it is recommended to rinse the mouth, take etiotropic drugs.
general characteristics
Periodically, an unpleasant aftertaste occurs in healthy people. It can be caused by the accumulation of food particles with insufficient oral hygiene, the use of foods with a bright rich taste. In most cases, the symptom is caused by pathological causes. A bitter taste is felt in the mouth mainly in the morning, immediately after waking up. Unpleasant sensations bother a person for several hours, do not disappear after rinsing the mouth with water.
Bitterness or a feeling of sourness is accompanied by heartburn, sore throat. At the same time, the oral mucosa dries up, saliva is viscous, and is excreted in a smaller amount. Sometimes patients complain of a sharp chemical or metallic taste that persists throughout the day. If the symptoms appear with a certain frequency or constantly, you need to visit a specialist.
Causes of taste in the mouth
Causes of the taste of blood in the mouth
This symptom occurs when you accidentally bite your cheek or tongue to the blood. A characteristic taste in the oral cavity, repeated several times a week, causes pathological causes. The main diseases in which there is a taste of blood in the mouth are:
- Dental diseases : gingivitis, stomatitis, periodontitis.
- ENT pathology : sinusitis, chronic atrophic rhinitis.
- Gastrointestinal tract : erosive esophagitis and gastritis, peptic ulcer, esophageal vein dilatation.
- Cardiovascular disorders : hypertension, angina pectoris, vasculitis.
- Rare causes : tuberculosis, lung cancer, bronchial asthma.
Causes of a bitter taste in the mouth
Bitterness is more often felt in the morning, but sometimes the symptom worries the patient during the day. Bitter taste is accompanied by nausea, loss of appetite, sometimes there is vomiting with bile impurities, a specific unpleasant smell of rotten breath. A bitter taste in the mouth can be provoked by such reasons as:
- Age-related atrophy of the mucosa in the elderly .
- Pregnancy .
- Bad habits : smoking, alcohol abuse.
- Liver pathologies : autoimmune, viral or toxic hepatitis, cirrhosis, fatty degeneration.
- Damage to the biliary tract : cholecystitis and cholangitis, biliary dyskinesia, cholelithiasis.
- Gastrointestinal diseases : functional dyspepsia, chronic gastritis, duodenitis.
- Neurological disorders : consequences of traumatic brain injury, residual manifestations of stroke, Alzheimer's disease.
- Iatrogenic conditions : fillings, dental prosthetics.
- Complications of pharmacotherapy : treatment with chemotherapy drugs, antihistamines, antibiotics.
An unpleasant sensation is more often observed after drinking untreated tap water, which passes through pipes of poor quality, covered with rust. The taste of iron also appears when cooking or storing food in aluminum utensils. Possible pathological causes that cause a metallic taste in the mouth:
- Anemia : iron deficiency, B12 deficiency.
- Foreign bodies : the presence of piercings on the tongue or lips, low-quality metal dentures.
- Hormonal changes : pregnancy, menopause.
- Chemical poisoning : mercury, lead, copper, arsenic.
- Exposure to radiation .
- Diseases of the urinary system : chronic glomerulonephritis, interstitial nephritis, renal failure.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract : erosion of the esophagus, bleeding stomach ulcer, varicose esophageal veins.
- Complications of pharmacotherapy : taking antiprotozoal, antacid antihypertensive drugs.
Causes of a sweet taste in the mouth
A constant taste of sweetness is noted in people who abuse confectionery and chocolate. If the symptom is not associated with food intake, unsweetened food predominates in the diet, this indicates serious problems. The main reasons for the appearance of a sweet taste in the mouth:
- Diabetes mellitus .
- Pregnancy, gestational diabetes .
- Dental diseases : caries, periodontitis, stomatitis.
- Diseases of the digestive system : chronic pancreatitis, GERD, hyperacid gastritis.
- Exposure to pathogenic microorganisms : Pseudomonas aeruginosa, staphylococci and streptococci.
- Neurological disorders : damage to the facial nerve, chronic stress.
- Pesticide poisoning .
Causes of the taste of acetone in the mouth
A sharp chemical taste is often the result of a change in metabolic processes and the accumulation of ketone bodies. This sign is not found in the norm and always indicates a serious violation of the body. The unpleasant smell and taste of acetone in the mouth are caused by the following reasons:
- Compliance with a carbohydrate-free diet .
- Endocrine diseases : diabetes mellitus and its complication - ketoacidotic coma, thyroid dysfunction.
- Kidney damage: glomerulonephritis, acute and chronic renal failure, necrosis.
- Liver pathology : fibrosis and cirrhosis, Wilson-Konovalov disease, neoplasms.
Diagnostics
If an atypical taste is occasionally or constantly felt in the mouth, consultation with a gastroenterologist is required. The symptom is caused by various reasons, therefore, before a laboratory and instrumental examination, an anamnesis and accompanying complaints should be carefully collected. The most diagnostic value are:
- Blood tests . A standard biochemical blood test reveals the accumulation of ammonia and ketone bodies, which often provoke an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth. In a clinical analysis, a decrease in hemoglobin, a change in the size and shape of red blood cells, which is characteristic of anemia, can be detected. If necessary, a toxicological analysis is carried out.
- Hormonal profile . If patients complain of a sweetish sensation in the mouth, fasting sugar levels are measured. The results of an oral glucose tolerance test are indicative. To clarify the form of diabetes, the concentration of insulin and C-peptide are taken into account. With normal glucose levels, it is recommended to determine the level of thyroid hormones.
- ENT examination . During the study, the state of the oral cavity, throat, nasal passages is studied. Frequent findings are signs of chronic inflammation, purulent or whitish deposits on the mucous membrane. Blood crusts are sometimes found in the nose. If carious teeth or bleeding gums are detected, a person is referred to a dentist.
- Endoscopy . The causes of unusual taste sensations, which are combined with abdominal pain and excruciating heartburn, are diagnosed with the help of FGDS. During endoscopy, inflammatory and destructive processes in the gastric mucosa, insufficiency of the cardiac sphincter with leakage of acidic contents into the esophagus are visualized.
- X-ray imaging . To exclude ENT causes of a permanent unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth, an x-ray of the paranasal sinuses is performed. Excretory urography is indicated for patients with edema, back pain and other signs of kidney damage. To study the state of the intestine, a barium passage x-ray is prescribed.
- Additional Methods . In women, the levels of sex hormones must be examined; in young patients, the content of chorionic gonadotropin is additionally assessed to confirm or exclude pregnancy. If lung cancer is suspected, especially in men with a long history of smoking, bronchoscopy with material sampling for cytomorphological analysis is required.
If you have an unpleasant taste in your mouth, it is important to maintain oral hygiene
Treatment
Help before diagnosis
Many patients feel relief after rinsing their mouths with water and a little lemon juice or a weak solution of baking soda. It is important to observe oral hygiene: brush your teeth thoroughly 2 times a day, rinse your mouth with water after each meal, use dental floss if necessary. In order not to suffer from bitterness in the morning, at dinner you should refrain from fatty foods and smoked meats.
Pregnant women are advised to eat often, in small portions, so as not to overload the digestive tract. After eating, you can not take a horizontal position, engage in physical labor. If an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth is accompanied by dyspeptic disorders, pain syndrome or a progressive deterioration in the general condition, it is important to consult a doctor in time to determine why the taste occurs in the mouth.
Conservative therapy
A specific taste is found in many diseases, so only the main directions of therapy can be identified, and the selection of an individual set of therapeutic measures is carried out by a specialist. If caries is detected, treatment by a dentist is indicated: usually, after the elimination of chronic foci of infection, the unpleasant taste disappears. Most often in therapeutic schemes use:
- Antiseptics . Regular washing of the oral cavity with a solution of chlorhexidine and its analogues provides moisturizing and cleansing of the mucous membrane, prevents the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms. For stomatitis with pain, solutions of local anesthetics are used.
- Antacids . If the symptom is due to hyperacid conditions, modern non-absorbable drugs that quickly reduce acidity are recommended. Often, a course of treatment with antisecretory agents is required to achieve a lasting effect and heal mucosal defects.
- Choleretic drugs . With biliary pathology, they improve the composition of bile and stimulate its release into the duodenum, due to which bitterness disappears. The drugs can be combined with hepatoprotectors to protect the liver from the effects of bile acids.
- Antidotes . Heavy metal poisoning is an indication for the appointment of specific chelators that bind and remove toxic substances from the blood. To accelerate detoxification, large volumes of crystalloid solutions are administered intravenously.
Physiotherapy
In chronic rhinitis and sinusitis, the nasal passages are washed with solutions of sea salt, mud applications are applied to the skin of the nose and paranasal region. To improve blood flow in the kidneys, diathermy or inductothermy is prescribed. The complex of treatment of renal pathology necessarily includes drinking mineral water with alkalizing properties. To eliminate pain in gastritis, electrophoresis and UHF are used on the anterior abdominal wall.