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Clinical Experiences in Israel xiv
Drs. Rosenberg and Leib surveyed 308 people who came to the clinic between February and December, 1992. Sixty percent of the participants were female. The patients provided a medical history and information on their current oral hygiene practices. The patients gave a description of the problem and how greatly it impacted their daily lives. They rated their own oral malodor level on a scale from 1 to 5. Human judges took organoleptic measurements for whole mouth odor, tongue dorsum odor, and nasal odor. Drs. Rosenberg and Leib report three interesting cases from this study. A 28 year old female presented with an oral odor, cigarette odor, and an atypical nasal odor. The doctors referred the patient to an otolaryngologist. Surgery yielded a calcified child's bead that had been in her nose for 25 years.
The second subject was a 19 year old severely mentally retarded male. The odor was typical of nasal odor, and was found especially around his nose, hair, hands, and clothes. He was referred to an otolaryngologist who removed a putrefied paper tissue lodged in the patient's nasal cavity. The odor problem was cured.
The third case was a man who complained of oral malodor, but after examination, malodor was not detected. The man continued to think he had bad breath, even after his family and health professionals denied any problem.
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the Tongue
