What Causes Metallic Taste in the Mouth

By Patricia | June 30, 2009

A bad taste in the mouth is usually caused by the intake of some antifungal drugs, disease like mucositis and even tonsilloliths. None of these conditions is fatal in anyway except for the last possibility that there could be some kind of toxin that you are ingesting. One of the toxins that can cause a feeling of metal in the mouth is lead. If this is the case then, you need to get the water in your house checked for lead contamination immediately.

Many fungal medications like metronidazole though not metallic in nature itself is taken up by anaerobic bacteria and fungi because they have the ability to break down metronidazole by ferredoxin. This metabolism causes the disruption of cell replication in the pathogenic cells and kills it eventually. The remnants of the drug itself cause a metallic taste in the tongue, which usually goes away once the drug use is stopped. Some of the fungal infections that have this odd side effect are tinea capitis, oral thrush, bacterial vaginosis, vaginitis and gastritis from H. Pylori infections to name a few. Another possibility for a metallic taste in the mouth is because of a condition called mucositis. This is an inflammation of the mucus membranes of the intestinal tract or oral mucus membranes. This condition is caused due to some other disease. Periodontitis, which is an infection of the tissues that surround and hold the teeth, can also cause this effect. Another odd condition that can cause the metallic taste in the mouth is the development of a calculus in the tonsils. This is basically a cyst like growth that is not dangerous and occurs in the back of the mouth near the tonsils. Since the cysts and fibroid tissues are calcifications, they contain many metals like calcium, magnesium, ammonium, in their salt forms that causes them to give a metallic taste. These stone like formations are easily removed by brushing off the tonsils or by any kind of mechanical movement of the white cluster.

The simplest method of taking away a bad metallic taste in the mouth is to ingest something that gives another taste. Honey is one of the foods that leaves a lingering taste in the mouth and also acts as an antimicrobial agent if the feeling is caused by infection. Alcohol is also a good agent that tends to numb the sense of taste in the body after a while. It can also be used as a mouthwash.

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