Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Brasilia (UnB), Brazil.
J Breath Res. 2012 Mar;6(1):017105. doi: 10.1088/1752-7155/6/1/017105. Epub 2012 Feb 27.
It is known that almost one-third of patients who seeks treatment for bad breath do not have genuine halitosis. Halitosis can occur even in cases when the malodor is not perceived by those around the patient and can neither be confirmed by organoleptic tests, nor by sulfur portable monitor readings. In such cases, these patients have been considered as halitophobic or have pseudo-halitosis. The complaint might signal the existence of a chemosensory dysfunction. Factors associated with taste and smell perception can be potentially connected to the occurrence of oral malodor. The threshold values of volatile sulfur compounds that have been used to establish the diagnosis of genuine halitosis do not take into account that the patient may perceive low levels of these and of other volatile compounds through retronasal olfaction. The current concept of halitosis requires the presence of a signal that has been based on equipment results, from the olfactory perception of the examiners and of those who interact with the patient. Nevertheless, the concept does not encompass the symptoms of halitosis. This paper addresses some of the possible causes of chemosensory dysfunction and proposes a new definition for halitosis.
据了解，寻求治疗口臭的患者中，几乎有三分之一的人并没有真正的口臭。即使在患者周围的人没有察觉到异味，且无法通过嗅觉测试或便携式硫监测读数确认的情况下，也可能会发生口臭。在这种情况下，这些患者被认为是口臭恐惧症患者或假性口臭患者。这种抱怨可能表明存在化学感觉功能障碍。与味觉和嗅觉感知相关的因素可能与口腔异味的发生有关。用于诊断真性口臭的挥发性硫化合物的阈值值并未考虑到患者可能通过鼻后嗅觉感知到这些和其他挥发性化合物的低水平。目前的口臭概念需要存在一个信号，该信号基于设备结果，来自检查者和与患者互动者的嗅觉感知。然而，该概念并未包含口臭的症状。本文探讨了一些化学感觉功能障碍的可能原因，并提出了口臭的新定义。
