PREVALENCE OF HALITOSIS AND RELATED ORAL PROBLEMS AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS OF SHAHID BEHESHTI UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES IN 2014-2015

Halitosis is described as unpleasant breath, regardless of its sources. There are
several factors that cause halitosis. In most cases (80 -90%), it has intraoral origin and is one of the most
frequent complaints that makes a patient to visit a dentist .The aim of this study was to determine the
prevalence of oral halitosis and related oral problems among dental students.
Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 225 dental students. The samples
completed forms and also intra oral examination was conducted with consideration of deep caries,
redness and inflammation of the tonsils, periodontal disease, pericoronitis, and tongue coating. Then
organoleptic test was performed for all patients. The ones whose organoleptic test scores was equal or
greater than 2 were considered with halitosis. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests, chi-square,
Mann-Whitney, and logistic regression modeling were used and data analysis was performed using
SPSS 21.
Results: Out of 225 samples enrolled, 151 (67.1%) patients were suffering from halitosis. Tongue
coating (p <0.0001), pericoronitis (p = 0.023) and tonsillitis (p = 0.025) had significant relationship with
halitosis but decay and periodontal disease didn’t have.
Conclusion: Tongue coating was the most powerful association with halitosis, redness and inflammation
of the tonsils and pericoronitis was also an important factor affecting halitosis