Self-perceived oral malodour among periodontal patients: prevalence and associated factors

Background: Perceived oral malodour is a common reason for dental consultation implying that vigilant assessment of oral malodour in dentistry will facilitate effective treatment.Aim: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with self-perceived oral malodour among periodontal patients. Methods: A cross-section of 490 consenting patients attending the Periodontology Clinic of a tertiary healthcare facility in Nigeria between February and June, 2012 were studied. Data analyses in the form of descriptive statistics, chi-square statistics and logistic regression weredone and p< 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Self-perceived oral malodour was reported by 84 of the 490 studied participants giving a prevalence of 17.1%. Self-perceived oral malodour was significantly associated with gender (p=0.004), daily tooth brushing frequency (p=0.018) and gingival health perception (p=0.013), perceived worsening of oral despite daily tooth brushing (p=0.001), and belief that artificial teeth are inevitable in old age (p=0.001). Self-perceived oral malodour was significantly higher among participants reported having gingival bleeding on tooth brushing, food packing and tooth mobility, worried about malodour and colour of gingiva and teeth. The determinants of self-perceived oral malodour from logistic regression analysis were gingival bleeding on tooth brushing, worry about oral malodour and belief that artificial teeth are inevitable in old age. Conclusion: Data from this study revealed that one out of every six studied periodontal patients had self-perceived oral malodour with the determinants as gingival bleeding on tooth brushing, worry about oral malodour and belief that artificial teeth are inevitable in old age.