ORAL MALODOR IN BEAGLES - ASSOCIATION WITH INDICATORS OF PERIODONTAL-DISEASE

The study of oral malodor continues to receive attention. Most bad bre ath is of oral origin and can be corrected with proper oral hygiene. S tudies performed with saliva from people with periodontal disease and from healthy individuals showed that saliva from diseased patients pro duced a more objectionable odor faster than that of healthy people, an d that the volatile sulfur components (VSC) produced may actually play a role in the etiology of periodontal disease. However, not all peopl e or animals with bad breath have periodontal disease. The objectives of this study were to determine if a trained panel could discriminate between 10 dogs with clinically defined periodontal disease and those with relatively healthy periodontium. Second, this study attempted to establish a correlation between odor intensity and six clinical parame ters of oral health. The judges were able to differentiate between the two groups of dogs based only on oral malodor (p < 0.02). There were strong associations of the intensity of oral malodor with oral health index scores. The correlations established between odor and gingivitis (r = 0.81) and between odor and furcation exposure (r = 0.88) were ve ry high and statistically significant. Similarly, probing depth (r = 0 .73), plaque (r = 0.07) and tooth mobility (r = 0.66) showed clear, po sitive relationships with oral malodor.