Harold Katz (halitosis expert)

Harold Katz (born August 30, 1949, Sharon, Pennsylvania) is an American dentist and the founder of The California Breath Clinics. He is best known as the author of the book “The Bad Breath Bible”,^[1][2] and the creator of TheraBreath.^[3][4] Katz is notable for educating and raising public awareness about situational bad breath and halitosis using the Halimeter, an instrument for measuring the amount of sulfur compounds emitted in the breath.^[5][6] His notability also stems from interviews and consultations he has given to several major media about the causes and cures of bad breath.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Education

Katz attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1967 to 1968. Then, he studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he received a Bachelor of Arts in bacteriology in 1971. Then, he graduated with a dental degree from the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1975.

Career

In the 1970s, Katz established a dental practice in Beverly Hills, California. Later in 1994, with his brother Richard Katz, he founded the California Breath Clinics to treat and study patients with chronic bad breath, taste disorders, tonsil stones and dry mouth issues.^[11][12] In 2011, the company expanded to Taiyuan (Shanxi province, China) and Penang, Malaysia (Adventist Dental Hospital), and later to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore. In 2002, Katz published "The Bad Breath Bible,^[1][2] The Definitive Resource on the Symptoms, Causes and Cures of Halitosis", a book that explores the causes and solutions to bad breath and taste disorders.^[1] During his career, Katz has been an advocate of treatments of halitosis and other oral hygiene problems including developing the TheraBreath oral care system in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom^[13][14] To educate the general public and raise awareness about the causes and treatments of bad breath, Katz has traveled around the world.^[15][16] The Wall Street Journal,^[17] Forbes magazine,^[7] the Los Angeles Times,^[8] New York Times,^[9] The Sacramento Bee,^[18] Redbook, and Shape have interviewed and consulted with him on issues related to bad breath. He has also made several public appearances on television and radio including CNN,^[10] The Early Show^[11] and The Ed Bernstein Show^[19] He has also worked with Hollywood celebrities to treat their breath issues with appropriate solutions.^[20][21]

Research

Katz began his research into the causes of bad breath in the early 1990s when confronted with his teenage daughter's problems with severe and chronic bad breath. Standard mouthwashes worsened the breath issue which persisted in spite of brushing and flossing several times a day. Katz's background in bacteriology helped him realize that the origin of bad breath, contrary to general belief at the time, was not the digestive system. Instead, Katz discovered that bad breath is caused by a group of sulfur producing bacteria which live and multiply on the tongue's surface and inside the throat.^[22] With this knowledge, Katz began experimenting with oral rinse and toothpaste formulas that would reduce the sulfur producing bacteria responsible for bad breath.^[23] During his research on the causes and treatments of bad breath, Katz realized that an oxygenating formula could inhibit the anaerobic, sulfur producing bacteria that cause bad breath.^[24] Following his scientific collaboration with laboratories and chemists, Katz created his own oxygenating formulas (mouthwash, toothpaste, and spray) in 1996 followed by another specifically to address periodontal issues. He was an early adopter of the Halimeter (a portable sulfide gas monitor) and has made several media and public appearances demonstrating its usage to the general public.^[25][26]

See also

• Halitosis
• Halimeter

References

External links

• Dr. Harold Katz official website
• TheraBreath official website