Assessment of newly developed tongue sulfide probe for detecting oral malodor

AIM: The present study examined the relationship between sulfide levels on tongue dorsum surfaces (pS levels) and oral malodor. METHOD: The pS levels of 20 systemically healthy volunteers were evaluated using an industrial device equipped with a newly-developed tongue sulfide probe. The pS levels on 3 parts of the tongue--anterior, middle and posterior along the median groove of the tongue dorsum--were determined for each subject. RESULTS: The device reported the pS level in a digital score ranging from 0.0 (< 10(-7) M of sulfide) to 5.0 (> or = 10(-2) M of sulfide) in increments of 0.5. Oral malodor was assessed by measuring the level of volatile sulfur compounds in mouth air, as well as by the organoleptic method. The pS levels were 0.03 +/- 0.11, 0.20 +/- 0.41 and 0.88 +/- 0.76 for the anterior, middle and posterior parts, respectively. This difference was significant (p<0.001). Both oral malodor measurements showed significant correlation (p<0.05) with the pS levels of middle and posterior parts of tongue. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the tongue sulfide probe might be useful in management of subjects with oral malodor.