Product type Oral hygiene Introduced 2002 Website Official website | Country United States Markets International | |
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TheraBreath is a brand of oral care products made by the American manufacturer, Harold Katz, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It treats issues related to halitosis and is also known under the name “TetroBreath” in Europe and “The Breath Company” in the United Kingdom. From its original chlorine dioxide formulation included in its toothpaste and oral rinse, TheraBreath has expanded to a line of oral care products that treats sources of bad breath including the tongue, throat, gum tissue, and tonsils.
Contents
History
The TheraBreath oral care products were created by Harold Katz in 1993 to help his daughter, who had bad breath; he quit his dental practice in order to focus on the issue. The products include toothpastes, oral rinses, sprays, drops, gum and lozenges.
Properties and ingredients
Halitosis, colloquially called bad breath, is caused by anaerobic, sulfur producing bacteria that thrive beneath the surface of the tongue and in the throat. These anaerobic bacteria feed on sugars and proteins found in food, mucus, blood, and in diseased oral tissue. They excrete sulfur compounds as waste. These smelly substances, called volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) cause bad breath odor. To try to address these they used stabilized chlorine dioxide (ClO2) which generates oxygenation in the mouth. Chlorine dioxide inhibits the ability of the anaerobic bacteria to multiply rapidly and then converts existing sulfur compounds into non-odorous and non-tasting sulfate salts.