Medications
Pain medication, such as NSAIDs and acetaminophen (paracetamol), can help reduce the pain associated with a sore throat. Aspirin may be used in adults, but is not recommended in children due to the risk of Reye syndrome. Steroids (such as dexamethasone) may be useful for severe pharyngitis. Their general use, however, is poorly supported. Viscous lidocaine relieves pain by numbing the mucous membranes. Antibiotics are useful if a bacterial infection is the cause of the sore throat. For viral infections, antibiotics have no effect. In the United States, they are used in 25% of people before a bacterial infection has been detected. Oral analgesic solutions, the active ingredient is usually phenol, but also less commonly benzocaine, cetylpyridinium chloride, and/or menthol. Chloraseptic and Cepacol are two examples of brands of these kinds of analgesics. Alternative
Gargling salt water is often suggested, but there is no evidence to support or discourage this practice. Alternative medicines are promoted and used for the treatment of sore throats. However, they are poorly supported by evidence. Epidemiology
Acute pharyngitis is the most common cause of a sore throat and, together with cough, it is diagnosed in more than 1.9 million people a year in the United States. References


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β-galactosidase test: salivary levels of this enzyme were found to be correlated with oral malodour.Although such instrumentation and examinations are widely used in breath clinics, the most important measurement of bad breath (the gold standard) is the actual sniffing and scoring of the level and type of the odour carried out by trained experts ("organoleptic measurements"). The level of odour is usually assessed on a six-point intensity scale. Classification
Two main classification schemes exist for bad breath, although neither are universally accepted.The Miyazaki et al. classification was originally described in 1999 in a Japanese scientific publication,  and has since been adapted to reflect North American society, especially with regards halitophobia. The classification assumes three primary divisions of the halitosis symptom, namely genuine halitosis, pseudohalitosis and halitophobia. This classification has been suggested to be most widely used, but it has been criticized because it is overly simplistic and is largely of use only to dentists rather than other specialties. Genuine halitosis
A. Physiologic halitosis
B. Pathologic halitosis
(i) Oral
(ii) Extra-oral
Pseudohalitosis
HalitophobiaThe Tangerman and Winkel classification was suggested in Europe in 2002. This classification focuses only on those cases where there is genuine halitosis, and has therefore been criticized for being less clinically useful for dentistry when compared to the Miyazaki et al. classification. Intra-oral halitosis
Extra-oral halitosis
A.