0 to 25% of the population worldwide [1]. Patients with AR experience a decreased quality of life associated with typical AR symptoms (i.e., sneezing, pruritus, nasal obstruction, and rhinor- rhoea) and issues such as smell-taste disorders, halitosis, fatigue, malaise, and possible neurocognitive deficits [2,3].
Halitosis is an unpleasant, offensive odour spreading from the oral cavity and is commonly known as ‘bad breath’. It is a very com- mon complaint among patients who visit otolaryngology clinics. When severe or long-standing, it may lead to personal discom- fort and social embarrassment, thus impacting the quality of life in a negative manner. The causative agents of halitosis are the oral cavity (90%), the respiratory tract (8%), and the gastrointesti- nal tract, including other organs (2%) [3]. Halitosis associated with the oronasal cavity may be due to post-nasal drip, pharyngitis, ton- sillitis, deep crypts of the tonsils, sinusitis, a foreign body in the nasal or sinus cavity, and ozena. These pathologies cause halito- sis because of bacteria, which cause putrefaction of the tissues and
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 212 945 3000. E-mail address: ozgur tr@hotmail.com (M.O. Avincsal).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anorl.2015.08.042 1879-7296/© 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
© 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
production of volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs), the main compo- nents of human oral malodour [4]. Several studies have noted the association between AR and halitosis. Nasal allergies cause excess mucus production in the nose and sinus cavities, which leads to post-nasal drip. It is hypothesised that as nasal discharge slides down the back of the throat, it can give oral bacteria a place to multiply, leading to the characteristic ‘bad breath’ [3,5]. However, few studies have supported or refuted this conjecture. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the potential effects of AR on oral malodour production using a portable gas chromatograph (OralChromaTM; AbiMedical, Osaka, Japan) [6]. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate halitosis in patients with AR.
Both halitosisand ARcan negatively affect thequality oflifeof an individual. We believe that these conditions have been understud- ied. Therefore, in this study, we decided to evaluate the occurrence of halitosis in patients with AR.
2. Materials and methods