Correlation between Mouth Malodor in Children and the BANA Test

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a connection could be found between the presence of these periodontopathogens on the dorsal tongue and mouth malodor in the children. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty children aged 3 to 10 from pediatric dentistry clinic at the University of Michigan, School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA and 218 children were seen in four different pediatric dentistry clinics in Taipei were enrolled in this study. When child’s mouth malodor was detected by 2 examiners, the tongue samples were collected by using cotton tip swap. The wiped portion of the swab that contained the coated material was wiped on the lower reagent strip of the BANA card to run the BANA test. Results: Forty percent of the American children were detected positive for the presence of mouth malodor. Among these children, 55% were tested positive and/or weakly positive for the presence of BANA positive anaerobic periodontopathogens in the tongue. Seventy of the 218 Taiwanese children (32.1%) were detected positive for the presence of mouth malodor. Among these children, 51.4% were tested positive and/or weakly positive for the presence of BANA positive anaerobic periodontopathogens in the tongue. Conclusion: BANA hydrolyzing bacteria in the dorsal tongue might be an important source of malodor production in the oral cavity of young children.