Delusional halitosis. Review of the literature and analysis of 32 cases

Halitosis, or bad breath, is a feature of some oral and systemic diseases. However, there are apparently healthy individuals who complain of having bad breath which no one else can smell and for which no local or systemic condition can be found. This condition, referred to in this article as delusional halitosis, has identical features with a psychiatric disorder, monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis. This paper reviews the literature on halitosis and oral psychogenic disorders and presents an analysis of 32 cases of delusional halitosis that presented at the University of Benin Dental Hospital, Nigeria, in the period 1984-1986.