Oral Medicine
Characteristics of patients complaining of halitosis and the usefulness of gas chromatography for diagnosing halitosis*,**

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Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of patients complaining of halitosis and to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 3 methods of measuring halitosis. Study Design: The actual degree of halitosis was determined through use of an organoleptic test in 155 patients aged 46 ± 17 years (mean ± SD). The volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) were determined with gas chromatography and with sulfide monitoring. Results: The organoleptic test revealed that 55% of the subjects had either no mouth odor or slight mouth odor. There was a significant correlation between the organoleptic score and the total VSC level as determined through use of other methods. The critical discrimination value of the total VSC level was calculated to be 0.057 ppm for gas chromatography and 0.117 ppm for sulfide monitoring; high sensitivity and specificity were obtained when the gas chromatography value was used. The amount of tongue coating was significantly greater in the halitosis-positive group than in the halitosis-negative group, whereas there was no difference in salivary flow rate between the 2 groups. Conclusion: These results indicate that determining VSCs with gas chromatography is a useful means of diagnosing halitosis.(Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2001;91:531-4)

Section snippets

Subjects and methods

One hundred fifty-five patients (51 male and 104 female) who came to the Halitosis Clinic at Kyushu University Dental Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan, were examined. All the subjects were Japanese, and their age was 46 ± 17 years (mean ± SD). The patients complained of halitosis that had persisted for several months or years. In some cases, other people had pointed out the patient’s malodor. On the basis of the attitudes of others, some patients strongly believed that they had malodor. In all

Results

Although 67% of the patient population was female, there was no significant difference between males and females (χ2 test, P > .05) in the age distribution. The halitosis levels as determined through use of the organoleptic test are shown in Table I.

. Halitosis level as assessed with organoleptic test

Empty CellEmpty CellNo. of subjects (%)Empty Cell
Empty CellHalitosis score
HS = 0HS = 1HS = 2HS = 3
Male4 (7.8)18 (35.3)24 (47.1)5 (9.8)
Female8 (7.7)55 (52.9)29 (27.9)12 (11.5)
Totals12 (7.7)73 (47.1)53 (34.2)17 (11.0)

HS, Halitosis score.

Discussion

In this study, most of the patients who came to our Halitosis Clinic were female. Rosenberg and Leib11 also found a predominance of females in the patient population at their breath odor clinic. It seems likely that females tend to be more anxious about bad breath than males. However, in this study there was no significant difference between males and females in the actual degree of halitosis as estimated through use of the organoleptic test. The organoleptic method revealed that approximately

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*

Supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Developmental Scientific Research (C)(2)11672051 from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sport and Culture of Japan.

**

Reprint requests:Toshihiko Koga, DDS, PhD,Department of Preventive Dentistry,Kyushu University Faculty of Dental Science,3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku,Fukuoka, 812-8582,Japan

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