Prevalence of halitosis and related factors in North Indian population- A hospital based cross-sectional study

Objective: The Halitosis is also known as ‘bad breath'. It is a symptom in which a noticeably unpleasant odour is present in the breath. This study is conducted to evaluate the age and sex related prevalence of halitosis, perception of halitosis, smoking and halitosis. Materials and Method: A total of 1045 patients were screened from OPD of Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology. Out of all patients, 353 were male and 692 were female. Organoleptic scoring system was used to detect the grade of halitosis. Complete dental checkup of the patients were performed to find out the possible cause of malodor. Results: The perception of halitosis is co-related with age groups and it was found that majority of study subjects were perceiving halitosis in each age group however the association of perceiving halitosis with age groups was statistically non significant(p>0.05).Majority of study subjects were perceiving halitosis in males and females. However this association was also statistically non-significant (p>0.05). However there was no significant association between perceiving halitosis with age groups for smoking status (p>0.05). No signicant (p>0.05) association is found between perceiving halitosis with gender for smoking status (smokers and non smokers). Conclusion:Halitosis is major health problem In India. The timely diagnosis and intervention by specialists, professional therapy, plaque control methods, education and awareness by professionals can help in prevention and management of Halitosis.