Development of Breath Detector for Halitosis (2): Clinical Evaluation

A breath detector was developed and its clinical application was investigated. 20 patients that included self-halitosis patients and periodontally diseased patients with halitosis were the subjects of this investigation. Measuring by breath detector was tried third time and most high score was taken for one's smell revel. The same time mouth air was analyzed by gas chromatograph. The amount of volatile sulphur compounds in mouth air was made a comparison between the two methods. The intensity of halitosis by olfactory panel were divided into four groups, (-) good, (±) slight, (+) warn, (++) severe. And we investigated that breath detector's judgement and olfactory panel were in agreement or not. A breath detector was very sensitive for volatile sulphur compounds as well as gas chromatograph. It was therefore concluded that breath detector seemed to be potentially useful in clinical objective evaluation of halitosis and periodontal diagnosis.