Objective
To examine the psychosomatic aspects of patients complaining of halitosis.
Study design
Breath malodor in 165 patients was measured using an organoleptic test (OLT), sulfide
monitoring, and gas chromatography. Clinical evaluation included oral examination,
OLT, and volatile sulfur compound measurement. The psychologic condition of patients
was assessed using the Cornell Medical Index (CMI).
Results
Every item in the CMI questionnaire was negatively correlated with the OLT scores.
Nine of 21 subjects (42.9%) diagnosed with pseudohalitosis and approximately 20% of
subjects diagnosed with genuine halitosis were considered to be provisionally neurotic.
Subjects with pseudohalitosis reported significantly higher physical scores, but not
mental scores, than those with genuine halitosis. Subjects with physiologic halitosis
showed significantly higher symptoms of depression than those with oral pathologic
halitosis.
Conclusion
The psychologic condition of patients complaining of halitosis was associated with
the actual degree of malodor and the clinical characteristics.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 07, 2008
Accepted:
March 10,
2008
Received in revised form:
February 14,
2008
Received:
November 14,
2007
Footnotes
Supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)18592296 and (C)16592071, a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)19791645, Grants-in-Aid for Frontier Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and as a research project of the 8020 Promotion Foundation.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
