Association between halitosis and mouth breathing in children

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is a correlation between halitosis and mouth breathing in children. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-five children between 3 and 14 years of age were divided into two groups (nasal and mouth breathing) for the assessment of halitosis. A descriptive analysis was conducted on the degree of halitosis in each group. The chi-square test was used for comparison between groups, with a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: There was a significantly greater number of boys with the mouth-breathing pattern than girls. A total of 23.6% of the participants had no mouth odor, 12.7% had mild odor, 12.7% had moderate odor and 50.9% had strong odor. There was a statistically significant association between halitosis and mouth breathing. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of halitosis was high among the children evaluated, and there was a statistically significant association between halitosis and mouth breathing.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Motta,Lara Jansiski, Bachiega,Joanna Carolina, Guedes,Carolina Cardoso, Laranja,Lorena Tristão, Bussadori,Sandra Kalil
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Faculdade de Medicina / USP 2011
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-59322011000600003
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