Clinical oral malodor measurement with a portable sulfide monitor.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical ability of Breathtron by comparing it with other malodor measurement procedures: the organoleptic test (OT) and gas chromatography (GC).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Patients were 475 patients who visited a fresh breath clinic. Oral malodor was measured with the OT, GC, and Breathtron. Correlation analysis and two linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of the Breathtron values with OT scores and volatile sulfide compound (VSC) concentrations by GC: i.e. the regression of Breathtron on OT and the regression of Breathtron on total VSCs by GC. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was conducted to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of Breathtron.

RESULTS

The Breathtron values were significantly correlated with OT and VSCs by GC. In the regression analysis, predicted Breathtron values were 199.3 and 520.1 ppb for OT scores 1 and 2, and reasonably close to total VSCs by GC between 550 and 750 ppb. The ROC analysis demonstrated that Breathtron is a useful and valuable adjunct measurement tool.

CONCLUSIONS

Breathtron is a simple, rapid and reliable appliance for screening oral malodor if an appropriate malodor threshold level is chosen.