Self-Perceived Oral Malodorous among Sulaimani Dental Students

Abstract

Oral malodorous is a common public problem, which is well recognized at dental clinics that pose considerable psychological distress to the sufferers. The aim of this study was to determine self-experience oral malodorous among dental students and to consider their knowledge toward its etiology and management. A questionnaire-based study was conducted on dental students to assess their experience of oral bad breath, how they accept the problem, how people around them react to their problem and what are the measures applied by the sufferers to overcome the problem of bad breath. Furthermore, this study attempted to record the psychological impact of oral bad breath on our students. The questioner examined students’ knowledge on cause of malodorous and factors (systemic and habits) that associated with it. Three hundred students answered the questioner and the frequency of oral bad breath was 33% experienced bad breath and 41.7 had a positive answer for having bad breath in past. Only 27% of the sufferers had been told about having bad breath by people around them. 31.7% sensed uncomfortable, 45%) sensed sad and 23.1% of suffers started taking and immediate action to controlling their bad breath when they have been told about it. Number of student suffering from oral malodorous and those provided history of halitosis wasn’t trivial. Furthermore, oral malodorous found to burden the sufferers psychologically; they were uncomfortable and have been embarrassed frequently by the response of their surrounding people.