To Assess the Influence of Habitual Mouth Breathing and its Associated Taste Alterations

Background: If the sense of taste is impaired, it may often negatively affect patient's food intake, nutritional status and consequently health condition because it provides information about the food we eat. Aim and Objective: To study the influence of habitual mouth breathing and its associated taste alterations and also investigate the cause of this influence. Method and Methodology: Total eighty subjects were taken out of which forty healthy volunteers (male-26; female14) participated in this study. The mean age of these subjects was 25.6± 1.9 (SD) years (age range, 19-36 years). Furthermore forty subjects (male-21; female-19) with a habit of mouth breathing (MB) were taken. The mean age of these subjects was 29.5± 3.4 (SD) years (age range, 19-40 years). A taste threshold is the minimum concentration at which taste sensitivity to a particular substance or food can be perceived. The subjects were told to avoid eating or drinking anything, with the exception of water for 3 hours before evaluation. In addition, a complete Ear, Nose, Throat examination was performed. We carried out the chemical method of gustatory testing by using filter paper taste strips. This is a validated gustatory test, used to measure the gustatory sensitivity of the tongue for 5 tastants; sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. We measured the recognition thresholds only on one side on the tongue either left or right. There are many factors that can alter taste senstivity. Considering these factors can help us better understand and ensure accurate sensory taste perception. Although there are a variety of factors but some that influence taste perception more than others are discussed in this study. These various effects are brought about by the many organic and inorganic constituents of saliva. In response to these variations in saliva, taste sensitivity may also fluctuate widely. Conclusion: Relationships between individual salivary constituents and certain taste substances have been explored in human psychophysical and animal experiments. However, there are many organic and inorganic salivary constituents whose effects on taste acuity have not yet been fully elucidated