Villa A, Zollanvari A, Alterovitz G, Cagetti M G, Strohmenger L, Abati S
Department of General Dentistry, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Int J Dent Hyg. 2014 Aug;12(3):208-12. doi: 10.1111/idh.12077. Epub 2014 Mar 28.
To date, few studies have addressed halitosis in the paediatric population. As such, the aim of the present study was to investigate symptoms, signs and risk factors associated with halitosis in healthy children and to present a model based on the clinical data that predicts the presence of halitosis.
A total of 101 individuals were included. All patients received a questionnaire that queried on sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported halitosis and dental treatment history. Individuals received a thorough intra-oral examination, and the volatile sulphur compounds (VSC) were measured to test the presence of halitosis with a portable sulphide monitor (Halimeter(®); Interscan Co., Chatsworth, CA, USA). The distribution of the sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported halitosis, dental treatment history and other oral features was evaluated. Finally, a statistical model was constructed with the best set of features to predict halitosis in children.
The median age was 12.0 years (mean: 11.7 ± SD 2.7) with 54.5% males. Halitosis (VSC > 100 parts per billion, or ppb) was objectively measured in 37.6% of patients. For comparison purposes, Bayesian network was obtained using clinical and demographic data. The model consisted of four variables (sex, age, oral hygiene status and self-reported halitosis) directly related to the presence of halitosis (VSC > 100 ppb). This model achieved 76.4% area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC). Overall, female patients or individuals with dental plaque on more than 25% of the dental surfaces or patients older than 13 year old were more prone to present with halitosis.
The results suggest that halitosis in the paediatric population is related to poor oral hygiene and may be more common in females and older individuals. This specific predictive model may be useful to identify subgroups to target for intervention to treat oral halitosis.
迄今为止，针对儿童群体口臭问题的研究较少。因此，本研究旨在调查健康儿童口臭的症状、体征及风险因素，并基于临床数据建立一个预测口臭存在与否的模型。
共纳入101名个体。所有患者均接受了一份关于社会人口学特征、自我报告的口臭情况及牙科治疗史的问卷调查。对个体进行全面的口腔内检查，使用便携式硫化物监测仪（Halimeter(®)；Interscan公司，美国加利福尼亚州查茨沃思）测量挥发性硫化物（VSC）以检测口臭的存在。评估社会人口学特征、自我报告的口臭情况、牙科治疗史及其他口腔特征的分布。最后，利用最佳特征集构建一个统计模型来预测儿童口臭。
中位年龄为12.0岁（平均：11.7±标准差2.7），男性占54.5%。客观测量发现37.6%的患者存在口臭（VSC>100十亿分之一，即ppb）。为作比较，利用临床和人口统计学数据获得了贝叶斯网络。该模型由四个与口臭存在（VSC>100 ppb）直接相关的变量组成（性别、年龄、口腔卫生状况和自我报告的口臭情况）。该模型的受试者工作特征曲线下面积（AUROC）达到76.4%。总体而言，女性患者、牙面有超过25%牙菌斑的个体或年龄大于13岁的患者更容易出现口臭。
结果表明，儿童群体中的口臭与口腔卫生不良有关，在女性和年龄较大个体中可能更为常见。这个特定的预测模型可能有助于识别需要进行干预以治疗口腔口臭的亚组人群。
