Tonsil stones psychology and the need for repeated treatments.

Tonsil stones are unpleasant, no doubt. The fear is that they cause bad breath. From many thousands of patients treated over the past 20 years, I've seen some patients have a slight or mild obsession with them, and often need more than one session of laser tonsillotomy under local anaesthetic spray. This is because they examine their tonsils so carefully that even the slightest residual problem makes them feel they need more treatment, even though the problem is usually much improved or eradicated after one treatment. Of course, some patients need more than one treatment because the tonsil cracks and holes that cause the problem were just to deep to be cleared up after one laser session.