| Title | Prevalence of halitosis in young male adults: a study in swiss army recruits comparing self-reported and clinical data. | | Author(s) | Bornstein MM, Stocker BL, Seemann R, Bürgin WB, Lussi A | | Institution | Department of Oral Surgery and Stomatology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. | | Source | J Periodontol 2009 Jan; 80(1):24-31. | | MeSH | Adolescent
Adult
Alcohol Drinking
Attitude to Health
Cohort Studies
Dental Devices, Home Care
Dental Plaque Index
Gastroesophageal Reflux
Halitosis
Humans
Male
Military Personnel
Oral Hygiene
Periodontal Pocket
Prevalence
Reproducibility of Results
Salivary Gland Diseases
Smoking
Sulfur Compounds
Switzerland
Tongue Diseases
Toothbrushing
Young Adult
| | Abstract | BACKGROUND: Sound epidemiologic data on halitosis are rare. We evaluated the prevalence of halitosis in a young male adult population in Switzerland using a standardized questionnaire and clinical examination.
METHODS: Six hundred twenty-six Swiss Army recruits aged 18 to 25 years (mean: 20.3 years) were selected as study subjects. First, a standardized questionnaire focusing on dental hygiene, self-reported halitosis, smoking, and alcohol consumption was filled out by all participants. In the clinical examination, objective values for the presence of halitosis were gathered through an organoleptic assessment of the breath odor and the measurement of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). Additionally, tongue coating, plaque index, and probing depths were evaluated for each recruit.
RESULTS: The questionnaire revealed that only 17% of all included recruits had never experienced halitosis. The organoleptic evaluation (grades 0 to 3) identified eight persons with grade 3, 148 persons with grade 2, and 424 persons with grade 1 or 0. The calculation of the Pearson correlation coefficient to evaluate the relationship among the three methods of assessing halitosis revealed little to no correlation. The organoleptic score showed high reproducibility (kappa = 0.79). Tongue coating was the only influencing factor found to contribute to higher organoleptic scores and higher VSC values.
CONCLUSIONS: Oral malodor seemed to pose an oral health problem for about one-fifth of 20-year-old Swiss males questioned. No correlation between self-reported halitosis and organoleptic or VSC measurements could be detected. Although the organoleptic method described here offers a high reproducibility, the lack of correlation between VSC values and organoleptic scores has to be critically addressed. For further studies assessing new organoleptic scores, a validated index should always be included as a direct control. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Comparative Study
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
| | PubMed ID | 19228086 |
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