Dr. Yosef Krespi specializes in a laser procedure called tonsil cryptolusis to combat bad breath.

Sadeta Velovic's breath stunk.

It was so bad, people moved away from her when she spoke. Her own mother complained about the rotten stench. Even Velovic, herself, could smell the foul odor upon waking in the morning.

"Nobody wanted to be near that smell," recalls the 40-year-old Ridgewood, Queens, resident, who works in building maintenance. "I felt so bad, but I didn't know what to do. I kept going to doctors, but they didn't help."

Bad breath, otherwise known as halitosis, afflicts tens of millions of Americans, and they're not laughing about it, either. It's an embarrassing condition that has no cure, despite the claims of dozens of mouthwashes, chewing gums and sprays hawked to hapless halitosis sufferers.

But Dr. Yosef Krespi, chairman of the ear, nose and throat department at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals, has helped devise a treatment that may be the best bet yet for permanently ending bad breath.

First, some halitosis history: Scientists have sought to cure the condition for thousands of years, according to Krespi. Centuries ago, many bad-breath bearers controlled their problem simply by regularly using a newfangled contraption called the "toothbrush." Then dental floss was invented in the early 1800s, further aiding the cause of making men and women more kissable.

In the last few decades, tongue scrapers have become the breath-buster du jour, as doctors theorized that halitosis originated in the back of the tongue. Others have guessed that halitosis may start in the stomach, which explains why Velovic was first prescribed heartburn meds (they had no effect).

In reality, halitosis can originate in a variety of places, but the cause appears almost always to be the same: a building of gas-forming bacteria that often appears as a mealy white or yellow biofilm.

"The mouth is one of the dirtiest organs in the human body," says Krespi. "There are several hundred families of organisms living in there, and as this population grows, it will give off more gases."

Mouthwashes can temporarily reduce the odor, but they don't break down the biofilm (after all, if they did, they'd cure halitosis and be out of business). And for sufferers like Velovic, all the teeth-brushing, liquid-swishing and tongue-scraping in the world wouldn't solve the problem.

Krespi recently discovered why. In lab studies, he and colleagues found that the bacteria can form in tiny clumps, also called tonsilloliths, which become lodged in tonsil folds at the back of the throat.

There's no need to have your tonsils removed, which can cost $10,000 and involves general anesthetic, possible overnight hospital stays and a week or two of recovery. Instead, Krespi zaps these stones with a tiny laser beam in his office - the whole process takes about 20 minutes - and the patient can return to work the same day with just a mild sore throat. And, most likely, an end to their bad breath.

"Ninety percent of the patients are satisfied with just one treatment," says Krespi, who has zapped tonsil stones in more than 500 patients. The procedure costs about $2,000 without insurance, but most plans cover it since it's a simple, outpatient procedure and lasers have been used for treating tonsils for over a decade.

For Velovic, who had Krespi beam up her tonsilloliths about three months ago, life since has been, well, a breath of fresh air.

"I could tell there was a difference about a week after," she says. "I am so much happier now - and relieved."