Video: Marc Quirynen and Silvia Roldán discuss how to address halitosis - starting with how to inform the patient

Considering that 20-30% of the population is afraid of suffering from halitosis yet refuses to talk about it, it is surprising how little the subject of bad breath is addressed in the scientific literature and at the dental practice.

But there will be a welcome breath of fresh air at EuroPerio8 where this topic will be discussed by Marc Quirynen (Belgium) and Silvia Roldán (Spain), who can be seen in this video talking about how to address halitosis with patients at both the clinical and the personal level.

Professor Quirynen, from the Department of Periodontology at KUL University near Brussels, insists that oral healthcare professionals have a role to play in diagnosing, informing, and treating patients who are often not even aware that they suffer from bad breath.

He points out that as nine out of 10 halitosis cases are explained by tongue coating, gingivitis, periodontitis and other causes in the oral cavity – with only a small minority of cases caused by systemic disease or other factors – the periodontal practitioner has the responsibility for gently making patients aware of the problem. The discussion here provides some useful clues on how best to do this.

Quirynen will talk about current approaches to the assessment and diagnosis of halitosis in the EuroPerio8 session 'Effective management of halitosis’ where he will be joined by Roldán, specialist in oral medicine at the Complutense University in Madrid, who will talk about current approaches to treating halitosis and call for a tailored treatment for each patient, according to the specific causes of their bad breath and including “a conventional periodontal therapy”.

The session’s other speaker is Japanese specialist Ken Yaegaki, who will talk about current knowledge on the aetiology of halitosis. You can download the EuroPerio8 scientific programme by clicking here, or register for EuroPerio8 here.