The relationship between alcohol consumption and oral malodour.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the relationship between alcohol consumption and oral malodour.


METHODS
235 individuals, aged 46.5 +/- 15.3 years (mean +/- SD), who complained of oral malodour.


METHODS
An organoleptic test (OLT) was used to estimate the degree of oral malodour, gas chromatography was used to measure volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs), and a questionnaire was used to gather data about the subjects' habits related to alcohol consumption.


RESULTS
Of the 55 individuals who consumed alcohol daily, 17 (30.9%) had strong malodour (OLT score, 4), and there were significant differences among the 'daily', 'sometimes', and 'no alcohol' groups (Kruskal-Wallis test, p < 0.01). The daily group also had a higher VSC concentration than the 'sometimes' and 'no alcohol' groups (t-test, p < 0.05), and there was no difference in the VSC concentration among the subjects with strong malodour. Analyses of the relationships between drinking habits and the clinical factors causing oral malodour revealed that daily drinking was positively associated with a probing pocket depth > or = 5 mm (chi2 test, p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
This study found an association between daily alcohol consumption and strong malodour, especially related to periodontal disease.
Suzuki
Nao
N
Department of General Dentistry, Department of General Dentistry, Fukuoka Dental College, Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. naojsz@college.fdcnet.ac.jp
Yoneda
Masahiro
M
Naito
Toru
T
Iwamoto
Tomoyuki
T
Yamada
Kazuhiko
K
Hisama
Kazuhiro
K
Okada
Ichizo
I
Hirofuji
Takao
T