Dental Issues: Can Phantosmia Be Related To Them?

But what is phantosmia?

Phantosmia is a qualitative olfactory disorder wherein an odourant is perceived in the absence of an identifiable stimulus. Although phantosmia is most often idiopathic, it may be associated with nasal mucosal abnormalities, migraines, seizures, and neurocognitive or mood disorders.

In a cinematic in extrapolation of this remarkable word, Phantosmia, by cinematographer Lavrente Indico Diaz, had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival, in the out of competition section.

Lavrente Indico Diaz. Such a melodious name; and one you may not know. You may not even know him by his more familiar moniker, Lav Diaz. If you don’t, that’s great – the point in reading anything is that there’s at least a little something to learn.

Lav Diaz is to cinema what Carlo Petrini is to the slow food movement. Which might be something else to add to the new info pile.

He’s the guy who definitely couldn’t say ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ to McDonald’s deciding to span its arches in 1986 – less than 50 metres from the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna; the centre of Rome. Carlo Petrini was so deeply affronted by this that instead of protesting with others at the site, he devised a better solution: to defend regional food traditions, gastronomic pleasure and quality food. He set out to form a strong connection between plate, planet, people, politics and culture.

Stick that between two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles on a sesame seed bun, Ronald..!

Petrini’s response established three tenets: to celebrate local food traditions; protect edible biodiversity; and advocates for fair, clean and regenerative food production. It became the manifesto for the slow food movement – a non-profit, grassroots enterprise promoting, “a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.”

He was also motivated by the same year deaths of 23 people and the poisoning of dozens of others left with serious injuries, from drinking cheap red wine made with methanol.

Unscrupulous producers and traders had taken advantage of the then deficient Italian food control system. To obtain maximum profit for minimum cost, the lowest risk of discovery via spot checks was to use methanol as an alternative to sugar. From mid December 1985 to March 1986, about 2.3 tonnes of methanol was used.

The scandal prompted emergency governmental prevention methods. It changed Italy from an economy reliant on quantity, to one based on quality, value and regional pride.

Macca’s fast-food mission “to make delicious feel-good moments for everyone” is so fast there’s no comma. Maybe you’re not s’posed to savour that moment. Maybe if you did, you’d change your mind.

The inspiration Petrini felt, is reflected in that of award-winning Filipino cinematographer Lav Diaz: “to reclaim what has been lost.”

From a nation with a history of turbulent mendacity, every one of his 27 films deals with it. Diaz’s artistry is formidable. And long. Very long. Notably, narratively, notoriously long. Clocking in at eleven-and-a-half hours is 2004’s Evolution of a Filipino Family. Indeed, it is his longest; and one of cinema history’s most lengthy. His 2013 offering Norte, the End of History is a comparative salve for the squirmy at four hours, ten minutes. He asserts that being Malay is the reason; having a more languid sense of time is part of tradition.

His shots are meticulously arranged – which is not unexpected in a filmmaker. What makes his rendering extraordinary is his ability to emphasise the normality of monstrous horror, without patronising the viewer. They are constant participants because Lav Diaz doesn’t provide easy answers and ready-made emotion.There’s ambiguity and temporal distancing; all to bring the clandestine to light.

Phantosmia had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival, in the out of competition section.

Diaz shared in an interview that he first encountered sufferers of this rare olfactory disorder at a medical centre in the Philippines, when he was visiting a relative. It was trauma borne of involvement in a protracted conflict between revolutionaries and state military.
He found a story to unearth in this disconcerting phenomena of the body hallucinating smells that aren’t there. For these anguished people, it was the smell of death and rotting corpses that permeated their every moment.

Most certainly not Mcfast-food, feel-good ones.

The griefscape Diaz created in his film, centres around a retired military sergeant. His life is upended by no longer being able to eat properly, or visit certain places, due to the violent past his brain won’t allow him to escape. His physician prescribes an unconventional treatment when medication is refused: going back into service. In order for his guilt to reach some type of reckoning, reliving the source of his trauma may trick his mind into returning to something more intact and articulate.

There are much less harrowing ways for phantosmia to occur.

Gum disease, and persistent dry mouth can be contributors. Dental issues such as the unpleasant odour from the bacterial gases of soft tissue inflammation, and cavity damage can easily travel to the sinuses. Proper dental treatment, improved oral hygiene and regular check-ups will undoubtedly treat the source – then it becomes a matter of whether the disorder persists.

It’s a condition that has many causes: including colds and respiratory infections, neurotoxin exposure and brain tumours. It has affected an increasing number of Covid-19 patients. Losing taste and smell was one of the known symptoms; being overcome by foul and unique odours months later, was not.

More than 4,000 people from across the globe who’d recovered from the pandemic’s virus participated in a multilingual, international study. All had lost and recovered their sense of smell; only it wasn’t right. Of them, 280 reported either a continuing phantosmia; or odour distortion (parosmia) where normally pleasant smells are unnervingly not.

It’s not that they couldn’t smell the coffee in the morning, it’s that they didn’t want to. It was rank: like sewerage, burning rubber or nothing definable other than pit-of-the-stomach disgusting. The permanent link between smell and taste meant that for these people, all kinds of foods were revoltingly unpalatable. The fleeting or lingering, randomness of phantosmia has it occur without even needing a scent trigger. Commonly, the smells are faecal, rotten, mouldy, metallic or burnt. It can be persistent in one or both nostrils, or as an environment reek.

This idiopathic dysfunction can also be caused by influenza viruses and rhinoviruses. Phantosmia and parosmia can be either part of the initial deficit, or as the result of the nerves recovering and making aberrant connections. The good news is that olfactory cells can regenerate; although it can take up to two years or longer – making any of Lav Diaz’s works a veritable ad.

So yes, there is a connection between awful olfactory disturbances, and dental complications. The simplest solution is not support the slow oral care movement: see your dentist, make it snappy, make it regularly. Then you’ll have many, many feel-good moments with no lies or fries involved.

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