Abstract
Objective: To evaluate parents' knowledge about halitosis, and to compare parents' per-ception of halitosis in their children to the presence of halitosis clinically.
Methods: Children between 3 and 8 years attended to Dental University Hospital, King Saud University, were screened. Children satisfying inclusion criteria and their parents agreed to partic-ipate were included. Questionnaires regarding parents' knowledge and perception about halitosis in their children were filled by attending parents. Then, the assessment of halitosis in the participating children carried out by portable gas chromatograph device (OralChroma (TM)).
Results: A total of 67 children (44 girls and 23 boys) were included in this study with a mean age of 5.3 years (SD = 1.7). The majority of the questionnaires (n = 44, 65.7%) were filled by accom-panying fathers. One in two (52.2%) parents obtained high knowledge score about halitosis. Par-ents' knowledge was significantly associated with the mean age of the children (P = 0.02). Thirty-nine (58.2%) parents perceived halitosis in their children. Gender, child's age, parents' edu-cation level, or family income were not associated with parents' perception of halitosis. Halitosis was detected clinically in 58 children (86.6%). Thirty-eight (57%) of parents' perception of halitosis was in consistency with OralChromaTM readings; however, there was no significant association between parents' perception and the OralChroma (TM) score.
Conclusion: Half of the parents had good knowledge about halitosis and 6 in 10 parents per-ceived halitosis in their children which is quite less than the presence of halitosis detected clinically. Moreover, parents' perception was not associated with the OralChroma (TM) score. (C) 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.