Talk:Tonsillolith
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Tonsillolith or Tonsil Stone
Small white or tan foul smelling balls found in tonsils. These form in many pockets of which are called crypts located in the tonsil on ether side of the tonsils. The most probably make up are bacteria and white blood cells. The patient typically notices something like a stuck piece of food or something hard within the back of their mouth. If that is the case then the stone is probably protruding from a crypt. Typically these will self extract and will be digested by the patient. To ease the irritation you can take a flashlight and a cotton tipped stick and "pop" out the tonsillolith by forcing from the side like popping a pimple. Some may be behind areas not easily accessable depending how your parents designed your tonsil. You can design a paperclip bend banded to a pen so it can enter the crypts or around corners. Over time, you will be able to control the gag reflex. Please be gentle and if blood is draw, stop immediatly and try another time.
Another option is to completely remove the tonsils. This will solve the problem completely. I would only considered this if it were a very serious issue, damaging your well being. Otherwise, it can just be a daily routine like brushing your teeth.
This information comes from hours of studying the internet and personal experience. Remember, we are not dying from tonsilloliths, we are suffering with it.
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[edit] Possible alternative treatment
In order to get rid of or at least decrease the production of the Tonsilloliths
it is important to do a NASAL WASH with saltwater each time before you brush your teeth ( and tongue !).
To make the saltwater solution, mix one-half teaspoon unionized salt in an 8-ounce glass of warm water. Unionized salt is used because iodized salt may be irritating when used over a long period of time.
Sniff the liquid up your nose, one nostril at a time and allow the fluid to run out of your mouth
Then brush your teeth and tongue with toothpaste as usual.
After a few days the Tonsilloliths will start to come loose and a few days later their production will become less and less.
Many doctors tell their patients to gargle with salt water in order to get rid of the Tonsilloliths. But gargling is simply not enough. You have to do the Nasal Wash with the saltwater aswell. At least once or twice a day.
I wouldn't suggest snorting salt water- Whatever the reason.
[edit] Dental Water Jet
I just aquired an Interplak dental water jet from W**mart to try out the forced flush method. You must buy the adjustable one, like Interplak model WJ6RW, the other ones are to powerful and will injure your tonsils bad. With the water jet turned almost to its lowest, it is pretty gentle. Mix in a salty water solution or mouthwash or clean water (make sure when you are done you run 1 tank to rinse the system with warm regular water). You should get a rubber tipped tip or use the regular tip. If you are not use to swabbing your tonsils with a cotton tipped stick, you may get a gag reflex, so turn the water even lower and bear with it. The trick is to find the crypts and almost put the tip inside them. An explosion of tonsil stones will be flushed out of your most trouble-some crypts. I guess with the salty water solution you can try the nose flush like the above friend said.
Good luck, and remember...we are not dying from tonsilloliths, we are living with them.
Update: I have been using it everyday just before bed for a few weeks now since the first initial flush(quite the purge). Well almost everyday, I went away for a weekend, and when I came back I found one tiny bugger. Other than that, I havent seen one yet. Yes its a pain to do it everyday, but you are going to have to do it anyway when you get that annoying itch and stinky breath; I have no itch anymore and NO STINKY breath. The reason I purchased it was cause I was fed up with cotton swabs and gagging trying to get the real tricky ones. I also had a chronic low level sore throat for almost 2 weeks before this (btw chronic means to last long). My throat feels better now when I wake up (even though I was on meds, this helped I know). A lot of research I did concludes that tonsilloliths can contribute to chronic low level sore throats. Try this salt water jet before cutting out your tonsils.
- I'd like to add my support for the oral irrigator as treatment (initial usage) and as prevention (with daily use). I think the key to preventing tonsilloliths is mechanically cleaning out the tonsils everyday as you would clean your teeth.
I bought a waterpik and like this person I found that the pulsating jet of water is very efficient at cleaning out the tonsils. I can see the efficacy of this water action by what is flushed out into the sink: tiny bits of food, discoloured vicosities and other debris. I know this material is coming out of my tonsils and not from my teeth or the surface of my tongue because I flush my tonsils AFTER flossing, brushing and irrigating my teeth. After months of use, gradually becoming accustomed to the gag reflex and desensitized to the water jet hitting the soft tonsils, I find that I can irrigate my tonsils quite comfortably. By doing this extra step every night, about 30 seconds for each tonsil, I haven't had a tonsil stone in over a year.
[edit] Baking soda
This person living with tonsil stones has found gargling for a full minute with a half water/half baking soda solution very helpful in getting rid of the pesky little monsters. Make sure to gargle 'vigourously' and try to let the water get as far back toward your tonsils as you can. This works especially well on stubborn stones that stay in place for several days, but I imagine it also helps prevent the formation of new stones. Be patient, though: often a set-in stone will need a day or two after gargling to fall out. Good luck!
[edit] Images and outside links
Here is an excelent image of a tonsillolith. It is korean, and I am not sure how the copy right rules work, but I feel it would be good if somebody could include it (or other images) in the main article.
Here is what I feel is the best image:
http://portal.page1.co.kr/content_images/weekly_0603_m.gif
Here is the parent page:
http://health.chol.com/weekreport/weekreport_v.aspx?srno=104
Also, this site indicates that a tonsillolith either does, or can become calcified:
http://www.ijri.org/articles/archives/20011101/images03.htm
[edit] Alternate treatment 2
I clean my own tonsils with an extended toothpick BEFORE they calcify into stones. During this time they are actually fairly soft, like tooth plaque. I can very well prevent the accumulated material from building up to levels mentioned in this article. I am not sure whether to recommend a process such as this though. One must have a VERY steady hand to prevent injury, to expose the tonsils in the mouth requires one to not breath at all, and excessive pressure on the tonsils with such devices may cause nausea.
[edit] Alternate treatment 3
Some people may find it possible to bend their tongue around enough to touch their tonsils. I can get a massaging action going that eventually dislodges the tonsillolith. I now do this sporadically out of habit (when I am concentrating intensely, for example), which prevents the tonsillolith from forming to a significant size in the first place (just try not to show your ugly face while your doing it). Curiously though, tonsilloliths only ever seem to form on my right tonsil...
[edit] Alternate Treatment 4
Regarding the origin of stones, I have a few interesting observations. I usually try to get rid of them before they calcify into anything large as discussed here, using an extending toothpick as described above. Observation 1: my mother, sister, and I all experience stones, and none of my close friends (that i feel comfortable discussing this with) do. This poses the question, is it genetic? Observation 2: The stones always seem to 'appear' in the deeper crypts, as though they are forming inside the tonsils. I check and wash/cleanse every day, and somehow the little buggers re-appear out of the blue. My diet changes often (i'm in college...) so I haven't noticed a correlation between certain foods and their production. Observation 3: My left tonsil seems to produce twice as many...and I only ever find 'big ones' on the left. Research shows much of this occurance, with people experiencing stones usually on just the one side. I'm not sure what this may mean....any comments?
[edit] Dietary Considerations
As part of a weight loss regime I cut grains out of my diet and my tonsil stones stopped entirely. Now the only grain I eat is brown rice and I can go as long as I want without a tonsil stone but as soon as I cave in and have some pasta, bread, cookies, etc. a new stone forms within days. If you think about flour of any type it's the perfect substance to form into a paste that can not only get into a tiny crevice but also stay there and attract other substances to stick to it which is how these horrible stank social-life ruining things come to be. I believe the reason brown rice doesn't contribute to stones is because of it still having the bran intact like a thin shell over the grain. This shell keeps the grain relatively intact as I chew and swallow and so it does not find its way into a crack in the surface of my tonsils. I believe that white rice would break down quickly upon exposure to saliva and turn into a paste just like flour does. I have not experimented yet but I think probably eating corn meal (Fritos, cornbread, tortillas, etc.) also would lead to the development of a tonsil stone in those of us who have the tendency (the tendency being crevices in our tonsils). It's pretty hard to avoid processed grains but if you want to be free of tonsil stones it's certainly worth a try. Flour, whole grain or not, is not good for you anyway no matter what the USDA tries to tell you.Etsybad 23:49, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
