The analysis of characteristics of elderly people with high VSC level

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of elderly subjects who had objectionable levels of volatile sulfur compound (VSC).

In 2002, a total of 115 85-year-old persons in Japan were subjected to oral examinations, tongue coat collections, measurements of VSCs levels inside the mouth using a portable gas chromatography (Oral Chroma, Abilit, Japan), and assessments of quality of life (QOL) using an SF-36 questionnaire.

Sixty-six of the subjects were edentulous and 49 were dentulous. They were divided into two groups by VSC levels, those with oral malodor (both H2S > 112 ppb and CH3SH > 26 ppb; subjects with oral malodor, OM group; n = 7) and those without (n = 108). Our results showed that tongue coat deposit amounts and proportion of dentulous subjects were significantly higher in the OM group. Further, in an analysis of QOL, the SF-36 scores for vitality, social functioning and mental health were significantly higher in OM.

We found that elderly subjects with oral malodor tended to be dentulous and had large deposits of tongue coating. However, oral malodor in the OM group subjects did not appear to cause a disadvantage in their social lives.