title: Association between halitosis and mouth breathing in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether there is a correlation between halitosis and mouth breathing in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five children between 3 and 14 years of age were divided into two groups (nasal and mouth breathing) for the assessment of halitosis. A descriptive analysis was conducted on the degree of halitosis in each group. The chi-square test was used for comparison between groups, with a 5% level of significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significantly greater number of boys with the mouth-breathing pattern than girls. A total of 23.6% of the participants had no mouth odor, 12.7% had mild odor, 12.7% had moderate odor and 50.9% had strong odor. There was a statistically significant association between halitosis and mouth breathing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The occurrence of halitosis was high among the children evaluated, and there was a statistically significant association between halitosis and mouth breathing.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lara Jansiski
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.forename: Joanna Carolina
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bachiega
authors.forename: Carolina Cardoso
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: Lorena Tristão
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Laranja
authors.forename: Sandra Kalil
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Bussadori
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006209:Halitosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009058:Mouth Breathing / Q000150:complications*; D009666:Nose; D012119:Respiration; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution