Critérios diagnósticos e tratamento da halitose em adolescentes: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to review the literature on the diagnostic criteria used to detect halitosis in adolescents and the recommended treatments for this condition. Methods: The bibliographic search, in the last ten years, was carried out in the Pubmed database, using the keywords “halitosis and adolescent”. Clinical, comparative, observational studies and randomized controlled clinical trials, with adolescents aged 10 to 19 years, who used diagnostic criteria to detect halitosis in adolescents, and presented a proposal for the treatment of this condition, were selected. Results: 55 articles were found and 24 studies were pre-selected after reading the abstract. In the second stage, after reading the studies in full, nine articles were included in the integrative literature review. The articles were developed in 5 different countries, seven consisted of randomized controlled clinical trial, the sample ranged from 30 to 785 adolescents, aged 10 to 19 years. For the diagnosis of halitosis, the halimeter and gas chromatography were the most used, in three studies each. Photodynamic therapy was compared to the tongue scraper in three articles, being more effective when the techniques were associated. Follow-up time ranged from a single session to one year of study. Other factors associated with halitosis were: mouth breathing, malocclusions, accumulation of biofilm on the tongue, poor oral hygiene habits and lack of health information. Conclusions: There are three main methods of diagnosing halitosis in adolescents, with the halimeter and gas chromatography being the preferred methods, and the organoleptic the least reliable because it is a subjective measure. Photodynamic therapy associated with tongue scraping appears to be more effective in reducing halitosis in adolescents than these individualized methods.