Abstract
Halitosis is considered to be extremely unattractive in the context of social interactions. The main research objective of this study was to evaluate whether intra-oral halitosis may impact patients’ quality of life (QOL). One hundred generally healthy adult participants complaining about oral malodor and diagnosed with intra-oral halitosis were enrolled in this study. For halitosis diagnosis, a gas chromatography (GC) analysis by the Oral Chroma portable device was used. QOL assessment was based on the Short Form 36-item Health Survey (SF-36). The respondents had the highest scores in the physical functioning (PF), activity limitations caused by emotional problems (RE) and activity limitations caused by physical problems (RP) domains, and the weakest in the general health perception (GH), vitality (VT) and emotional wellbeing (MH) ones. The total volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) level was negatively correlated with SF-36 domains. The SF-36 domains’ scores decreased the higher the level of VSC was. The respondents assessed their QOL to be at its best in physical functioning and activity limitations caused by emotional and physical problems and the worst in general health perception, vitality and emotional wellbeing. The strongest correlation between halitosis and decreased QOL was found in the social functioning (SF), vitality, emotional wellbeing and general health perception domains.
Highlights
The scores decreased with age, especially in terms of physical functioning, pain complaints, general health perception and social functioning
The latest systemic review and meta-analysis by Schertel Cassiano et al [52] reveals that the findings suggest that halitosis is associated with impaired oral healthrelated quality of life, there have not been many investigations regarding the impact of halitosis on QOL
Within the limits of this study, the presented data indicate that the respondents assessed their QOL to be the worst with regard to general health perception, vitality and emotional wellbeing
Summary
The term halitosis describes a condition that refers to an unpleasant oral odor, which can be called malodor, fetor ex ore or “bad breath” which can be defined as a socially unacceptable level of breath odor [2]. The nature of halitosis is multifactorial as the potential emanation of odor via the mouth and nose can come from the respiratory and gastroesophageal tracts, can be the result of the transfer of volatiles from blood to breath during alveolar gas exchange, and it may be a result of the patient’s self-perception (bad breath paradox). The lack of clear boundary between physiologic breath odor and pathologic halitosis makes the medical approaches even more confusing, the diagnostic process should include anamnesis, oral examination and breath odor measurements and the patient’s perception and their psychological investigation [4]
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