The effect of a chewing-intensive, high-fiber diet on oral halitosis: A clinical controlled study

Tongue coating is the most common cause of oral halitosis and eating results in its reduction. Only limited data are available on the effect of different food items on tongue coating and halitosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a single consumption of food with high fiber content versus low fiber content on halitosis parameters. Based on a randomized clinical cross-over study, 20 subjects were examined over a period of 2.5 hours after consumption of a high-fiber and a low-fiber meal. The determination of volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) was performed using a Halimeter, and the organoleptic assessment of halitosis was done on the basis of a distance index. The tongue coating was determined using a modified Winkel index, and the mouth sensation was evaluated subjectively by the subjects. In both the test and the control phase, a statistically significant reduction of all selected parameters was detected (p<0.05). Only for the organoleptic assessment of halitosis was a statistically significantly higher reduction found after consumption of a high-fiber meal compared to the control meal (p<0.05). In conclusion, the consumption of the meals in this study resulted in an at least 2.5-hour reduction of oral halitosis. The chewing-intensive (high-fiber) meal even resulted in a slightly higher reduction of oral halitosis in terms of organoleptic assessment (p<0.05).