What is a Tonsilith? Tonsil Stones

Tonsilith or "tonsil stones", are collections of various matter bound together in your tonsils. This matter is comprised mostly of food particles, dead cells, and oral bacteria which can form into hardened white balls and cause bad breath.

Tonsil stones form on the tonsil crevices and can harden and grow as they mature. They can become visible and can grow up to the size of marbles.

If the tonsiliths have not hardened and matured you may be able to simply gargle the bacteria away with salt water.

If you can reach the tonsil stone with your toothbrush, try to scrape them away. You can also try pressing a q-tip down on your tonsils which sometimes pop the tonsiliths out of place.

If the tonsilith have become too hard you might need to see a doctor who may decide to remove your tonsils altogether. This is called a tonsillectomy. Or, another option is laser tonsillectomy which uses a carbon dioxide laser to literally 'beam' the tonsil crevices flat. Without tonsil crevices, the food particles and debris have nowhere to latch onto and thus your tonsiliths will disappear.