Diurnal Changes in Oral Malodor among Dental-office Workers

Objective: Dentistry is a major resource for the treatment of halitosis. Therefore dental professionals must pay attention also to their own oral malodor for their professional courtesy. However, oral malodor among these people has not yet been investigated. In this study, the diurnal changes in oral malodor in dental-office workers were determined, and preventative measures were assessed.

Methods: Subjects were dentists (4 men and 4 women with an average age of 29.8 ± 3.5 years), dental hygienists (10 women with an average age of 24.8 ± 3.3 years) and dental technicians/receptionists (5 men and 4 women with an average age of 26.1 ± 3.4 years) working at a dental office in Tokyo. Diurnal changes in the levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), which are the main cause of oral malodor, in mouth air were determined with a gas chromatograph (Shimadzu GC-8A, Kyoto, Japan) specially designed for mouth air analysis, and the effects of several preventative measures were evaluated.

Results: The average tongue-coating score was 0.5 ± 0.6, DMFT 9.4 ± 0.6, DMFS 19.2 ± 15.1, OHI 0.4 ± 0.4, GI 0 and PI 0 (Mean ± SD). No significant differences were seen among the three groups. High concentrations of VSCs in mouth air persisted during the morning and decreased after lunch. Tongue-cleaning followed by tooth brushing decreased VSCs dramatically (p<0.001, respectively). Further treatment such as breakfast, tea or Zinc mouthwash, significantly decreased VSCs (p<0.001), but the effects were limited in dental hygienists (DH). It was shown that DH suffered from persistent oral malodor, specially afternoon.

Conclusion: Eating breakfast, cleaning the tongue followed by brushing the teeth and zinc chloride mouthwash were very effective in preventing oral malodor in dental office workers; however, the effectiveness of these preventions was limited in DH.