Association between halitosis and mouth breathing in children

✍ Scribed by Motta, Lara Jansiski; Bachiega, Joanna Carolina; Guedes, Carolina Cardoso; Laranja, Lorena Tristão; Bussadori, Sandra Kalil

• Book ID: 119996240
• Publisher: SciELO
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: Portuguese
• Weight: 229 KB
• Volume: 66
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1807-5932
• DOI: 10.1590/S1807-59322011000600003

✦ Synopsis

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.