Association between oral malodor and measurements obtained using a new sulfide monitor.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a new volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) monitor to assess oral malodor in subjects and compare its performance with those of organoleptic testing and gas chromatography.

METHODS

The mouth air of 260 patients was measured by three methods: VSCs monitor (Breathtron), organoleptic test by two judges and gas chromatography (GC). Mcnemar test and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data among these methods.

RESULTS

The log values of VSCs measured by a sulfide monitor were significantly correlated with the organoleptic ratings, and also with log values of H(2)S, CH(3)SH, and (CH(3))(2)S determined by GC (P<0.01). Using the results of organoleptic and GC to classify subjects into normal and malodor groups, the sulfide monitor's sensitivity was shown to be more than 79% and the specificity was 61-73%.

CONCLUSIONS

This sulfide monitor could be used for oral malodor measurement, moreover, according to its portability, it could be conveniently used for clinical setting and field surveys.