Association between oral malodor and measurements obtained using a new sulfide monitor. [J Dent] Journal article

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a new volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) monitor to assess oral malodor in subjects and compare its performance with those of organoleptic testing and gas chromatography.
METHODS: The mouth air of 260 patients was measured by three methods: VSCs monitor (Breathtrontrade mark), organoleptic test by two judges and gas chromatography (GC). Mcnemar test and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data among these methods.
RESULTS: The log values of VSCs measured by a sulfide monitor were significantly correlated with the organoleptic ratings, and also with log values of H(2)S, CH(3)SH, and (CH(3))(2)S determined by GC (P<0.01). Using the results of organoleptic and GC to classify subjects into normal and malodor groups, the sulfide monitor's sensitivity was shown to be more than 79% and the specificity was 61-73%.
CONCLUSIONS: This sulfide monitor could be used for oral malodor measurement, moreover, according to its portability, it could be conveniently used for clinical setting and field surveys.

J Dent