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Clinical association of volatile sulfur compounds, Halimeter values, organoleptic score and tongue coating in oral malodor
Author(s) -
Winkel EG,
Tangerman A
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2005.01105_5.x
Subject(s) - tongue , medicine , organoleptic , nose , hydrogen sulphide , dentistry , sulfur , chemistry , food science , surgery , pathology , organic chemistry
Objective Oral malodor is now generally accepted to be the main cause (about 90%) of bad breath. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential power of volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), Halimeter values, organoleptic score (OLS) and tongue coating in assessing oral malodor. Methods We investigated the mouth‐ and nose‐breath of 42 subjects with oral malodor, visiting our bad breath clinic. The methods used were gas chromatography, Halimeter measurements, organoleptic scoring (OLS) and tongue coating measurements. Results The concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), methylmercaptan (MM, CH 3 SH) and dimethylsulfide (DMS, CH 3 SCH 3 ) in the mouth‐breath of the 42 patients with oral malodor amounted to 0.74 ± 0.95 (s.d.), 0.42 ± 0.30, and 0.29 ± 0.19 nmol l −1 , respectively. H 2 S and MM were absent in nose‐breath of all patients, indicating that the origin of these VSC is the mouth. DMS in nose‐breath (0.21 ± 0.12 nmol l −1 ) was similar to that in mouth breath, indicating that the origin of DMS lies outside the mouth. The recognition threshold value of MM is four to 30 times lower than that of H 2 S and about three times lower than that of DMS, indicating that MM is the major source of oral malodor. A significant correlation ( r = 0.726, P < 0.001) was found between mouth‐H 2 S and mouth‐MM. No significant correlations were found between these two VSC and DMS. The correlations of H 2 S and MM with the Halimeter measurements, with OLS and with tongue coating are all highly significant. Conclusions Oral malodor is mainly caused by MM. The Halimeter is most sensitive for H 2 S. Nevertheless, thanks to the good correlation between H 2 S and MM, the Halimeter remains a useful apparatus in predicting oral malodor. OLS and tongue‐coating assessments are also useful methods in detecting oral malodor.