DENTAL HYGIENE
HALITOSIS WITH FIXED ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE VS REMOVABLE ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS : A PILOT STUDY
Luca Levrini 1a * , Domenico Posimo 2b , Giulia Tieghi 2c , Giulio Gualandi 1d , Alberto Caprioglio 1e ¹ Department of Surgical and Morphological Sciences , University of Insubria , Varese , Italy ² School of Dentistry , University of Insubria , Varese , Italy
a
DDS , PhD , Associate Professor ; President , Dental Hygiene School ; Director , Research Centre Cranio Facial Disease and Medicine , University of Insubria , Varese , Italy ; Assistant Medical Director , Dental Clinic , Fondazione Macchi Hospital , Varese , Italy b dental student c
Dental Hygienist , dental student d
DDS , Post Graduate Program in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics e
DDS , PhD , Associate Professor , Chief Program in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
Received : March 22 , 2016 Accepted : April 22 , 2016
Available online : May 05 , 2016
Cite this article : Levrini L , Posimo D , Tieghi G , Gualandi G , Caprioglio A . Halitosis with fixed orthodontic appliance vs removable orthodontic aligners : a pilot study . Stoma Edu J . 2016 ; 3 ( 1 ): 150-155 .
ABSTRACT
Introduction : Halitosis is a widespread condition and is a big handicap for the patients . Most adults suffer from bad breath , an estimated 10-30 percent of the USA population , and this may lead to personal discomfort and social disagreement . Furthermore , some authors estimate that approximately 50 % of the middle-aged and older individuals emit socially unacceptable breath , especially in the morning , which can be attributed to physiological causes . Methodology : For the purposes of this study 10 patients with aligners ( aligners grup - AG ) and 10 patients with fixed orthodontic appliance ( fixed group - FG ) were selected . This experiment aims to detect the presence of halitosis with a gaschromatograph ( OralChroma™ ). The machine analyzes the air sample and provides results in 8 minutes by creating a graphic that shows the amount of 3 volatile sulfur compounds . Results : The values measured by the gascromatograph show a significant difference between the two groups . We also considered the average values of both groups . The averages confirm the difference between AG and FG group ( FG average > AG average ) in all three values . Conclusion : This study is only a pilot study and should be expanded in order to produce more consistent results , but we can already assert that the possibility to remove the oral device certainly provides a better outcome for oral hygiene procedures and , consequently , improves the halitosis condition . In conclusion we can consider oral hygiene and halitosis as important factors in order to decide what kind of orthodontic device is better suited for the single patient . Keywords : halitosis , orthodontic appliance , clear aligners , volatile sulfur compounds ( VSC ), gaschromatograph .
1 . Introduction Halitosis is a widespread condition and is a big handicap for the patients . Most adults suffer from bad breath , an estimated 10-30 percent of the USA population , and this may lead to personal discomfort and social disagreement 1 . Furthermore , some authors estimate that approximately 50 % of the middle-aged and older individuals emit socially unacceptable breath , especially in the morning ; this can be attributed to physiological causes 2 . Halitosis , which means foul breath , might be related to physiologic and / or pathologic reasons 3 such as ear nose-throat diseases ( chronic sinusitis , tonsillitis ), gastrointestinal system diseases , diabetes mellitus , and acute rheumatic fever . Also , more frequently , halitosis can be related to intraoral factors , including especially gram-negative anaerobic microorganisms on the dental plaque , in the periodontal pockets , in the saliva , and on the dorsum of the tongue 4 . Besides these causes we should consider orthodontic treatment too . With the presence of fixed orthodontic appliances , efficiency when performing dental hygiene procedures decreased
* Corresponding author :
Associate Professor Luca Levrini , DDS , PhD , President , Dental Hygiene School Director , Research Centre Cranio Facial Disease and Medicine University of Insubria Via Giuseppe Piatti , 10 I-21100 Varese VA , Italy Tel / Fax : 0332.825.663 , e-mail : luca . levrini @ uninsubria . it
150 STOMA . EDUJ ( 2016 ) 3 ( 2 )