Halitosis en el adulto mayor. Como infección bucal y sus complicaciones a distancia.

Abstract

Halitosis is not considered a disease, but it can be the sign of an oral or systemic illness. Its main characteristic is bad odour. It is so common that practically everybody at some point has had halitosis. 50 % of the old adults have had it, 80 % of the cases having an oral cause. In general, oral halitosis is due to mouth infection. What is more relevant is its morbidity, it may promote systemic infections far away from the mouth, and this can have serious consequences, like pneumonia as a result of the aspiration of these oral sources of infection. If an accurate mouth hygiene protocol is not followed correctly before an intubation during general anesthesia, this may carry the microorganisms from the tongue’s dorsum (tongue’s plaque) to the respiratory system. In the same way, when an endoscopy examination is performed, oral candidosis, helicobacter pylori or other infections can also be transmitted to the rest of the digestive system. Systemic infections carried by blood can also be observed. They might have begun with periodontal diseases or other oral infections. That is why medication with antibiotics is very important in patients with endocarditis, for preventive reasons.