title: Halitosis and oral health-related quality of life: a case report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This is a clinical case of a 36-year-old Dutch male, patient in the Dr. S. van Mesdag Forensic Psychiatric Centre in Groningen. It demonstrates a short-time effect of a tailored oral hygiene self-care intervention in three sessions over a period of 3 months on halitosis and a patient's oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL).
  
  
  METHODS
  In addition to a dental screening and professional oral hygiene care, a semi-structured interview was conducted by the dental hygienist, and questionnaires were administered. The questionnaires included were; the Dutch version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14-NL; used as a measurement of OH-QoL), scales for expected social outcomes for having healthy teeth, attitudes towards oral hygiene behaviour (OHB) and dental anxiety.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical observations showed an improvement in patient's OHB, while the extreme foetor-ex-ore was reduced to an acceptable level. A retrospective assessment showed that patient's attitude towards the recommended OHB together with his self-perceived OH-QoL had positively increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case highlights the value of professional individual oral hygiene instructions performed by a dental hygienist. It also illustrates that a patient's effective OHB may play an important role in the reduction in halitosis and self-perceived OH-QoL. Finally, the retrospective version of the OHIP-14-NL may be an adequate method to assess self-perceived OH-QoL within a relative short period of time.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Psychiatric Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands. yvonne@apbuunk.com
authors.forename: Yab
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Buunk-Werkhoven
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dijkstra-le Clercq
authors.forename: El
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verheggen-Udding
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spreen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D006209:Halitosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*