Hi Laurie, You had a bad mouth hygiene and infection recently and got treated for that. Poor oral hygiene, ill fitting dentures, smoking, reverse smoking, chewing tobacco/betelnut all are contributory factors for poor oral hygiene and halitosis-bad breath; And risk factors for Oral cavity cancers. Carcinomas of oronasopharyngeal regions are the commonest carcinomas in third world countries and cause is chronic irritation or exposure to tobacco. Leukoplakia- White patces of thickened mucosa in oral cavity and Erythroplakia- Reddish discoloration of oral mucosa both are well known pre-cancerous conditions and if left unmanaged will portend a very poor ultimate outcome by getting converted into aggressive forms of carcinomas. So consult an ENT/Head neck surgeon as soo as possible and get the lesions examined and prefrably biopsy and HPR so to manage it before they become malignant. All the good health.