One defense to breath alcohol DUI cases is the condition of the mouth cavity. Under Tennessee DUI law, a police officer must watch you for 20 minutes prior to the breath alcohol test. The reason is to make sure the mouth alcohol has dissipated from the mouth and you do not burp, hiccup, or regurgitate. The presence of mouth alcohol can influence the breath test result. What else can influence a reading of mouth alcohol?
Things in your mouth may trap alcohol. Things like dentures, piercings, or braces can trap mouth alcohol. What does this mean to you? It could help you in your case if you have an elevated breath alcohol result. One could argue that the devices in your mouth trapped the alcohol in your mouth. The net result could lead to a higher breath alcohol reading.
Here is a real life example that happened today. The client was wearing clear braces. We took a picture of his mouth with the braces. We were able to use the braces along with some other favorable evidence to have a .15 breath alcohol test reduced to a charge other than DUI.