The chances are, you may be among the one-in-three young adults in Dunedin who have bad breath.
University of Otago dentistry researchers have studied the volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) in the exhaled air of 372 people, aged 18-30, and used subjective measurements from a self-reported halitosis questionnaire, tongue coating index, and organoleptic assessment to determine the prevalence of halitosis.
Otago Faculty of Dentistry deputy dean Professor Richard Cannon said the VSC measurements indicated 31.2% of those in the study had halitosis and 25.6% of them had self diagnosed it.
Those with halitosis had greater than 140 VSC parts per billion, which was particularly smelly breath, he said.
"I would think that with all the mask-wearing we are doing, people would notice it themselves more."
Prof Cannon was "slightly surprised" by the number of people in Dunedin who had the condition.
Most of the people in the study were university students because they were easy to get access to.
"So, the numbers might even be worse in the general population.
"It’s something people probably don’t know about — or if they do, they don’t want to."
He said the solution was simple.
"It’s really about sticking to what people should be doing, which is brushing twice a day and flossing.
"People should probably brush their tongues as well as their teeth, because the bacteria responsible for halitosis also live on the tongue.
"Probably the flossing is most important because that’s the material that gets stuck and stays, and is probably where the smell is going to come from."
