Changes in Bad Breath and Olfactory Function After Extraction of Carious Teeth

This cohort consists of adults aged 18-65 years who underwent extraction of one or more teeth due to advanced dental caries as part of routine clinical care. Tooth extractions were performed under local anesthesia using an atraumatic technique, and the extraction sockets were allowed to heal by secondary intention.

Participants underwent assessments of halitosis and olfactory function before tooth extraction and 21 days after the last extraction. Halitosis was evaluated using an organoleptic scoring method and a patient-reported visual analog scale (VAS). Olfactory function was assessed using the Sniffin' Sticks test, including threshold, discrimination, and identification components (TDI score).

Halitosis will be assessed by a single trained and blinded examiner using the organoleptic scoring method (OLS). Participants will be instructed to keep their mouths closed, breathe through their noses, and then exhale through their mouths. The examiner will assess the odor of the exhaled breath using a 6-point scale ranging from 0 to 5, where 0 indicates no detectable odor and 5 indicates extremely strong odor. Changes in OLS scores between baseline (before tooth extraction) and follow-up will be evaluated.

Participants will assess their perceived halitosis severity using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS), ranging from 0 (no perceived bad breath) to 10 (extremely severe bad breath). Changes in VAS scores between baseline (before tooth extraction) and follow-up will be evaluated.

Olfactory function will be assessed using the Sniffin' Sticks test, consisting of three components: odor threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and odor identification (I). The threshold test evaluates the lowest odor concentration that participants can detect. The discrimination test assesses the ability to distinguish between different odors, while the identification test evaluates the ability to identify familiar odors from multiple-choice options. The scores of the three components will be summed to obtain the total TDI score. Changes in total TDI scores between baseline and follow-up will be evaluated.