A vivência da halitose e suas implicações no comportamento de adultos

Abstract

Smell has a close connection with the brain areas involving emotion, learning and memory, and maybe that's why the olfactory memories evoke emotions. In dentistry, some situations involving the presence of unpleasant odors can cause some discomfort, such as halitosis, popularly known as bad breath. Halitosis is defined as an offensive odor from the mouth, nasal cavities, sinuses and / or pharynx. This study aimed to understand how halitosis is experienced by individuals and detect their reflections on the behavior of the ill. For this, we used a qualitative methodology and data collection was performed at the School of Dentistry, Federal University of Santa Maria. The study population consisted of twelve adult individuals of both sexes and complaining of halitosis. The study group was considered sufficient when information began to repeat, indicating saturation of the data. This qualitative research used semistructured interviews as a procedure for data collection. After each interview, information was transcribed and submitted to the analysis. To interpret the data and better understand the meanings, we used the technique of content analysis, thematic modality. The analysis included categories that were expected and those that emerged. After the analysis, we obtained six categories lated to halitosis: "Bad breath is a horrible smell," "I feel very bad, in desperation," "Talk is losing his friend," "I became addicted to chewing gum," "Healing: a watershed in my life" and "The dental professionals should be prepared. " We noticed that people associate factors of oral and gastrointestinal disturbances as a possible cause of halitosis. About behavioral, people who have this change often feel inferior and rejected, avoiding social contact. All prefer to be alerted about oral malodor by friends and / or family, however, would not warn others about the same condition. Still, there was plenty of resources that use masking breath and see the dentist as the main responsible for diagnosing and treating halitosis, and found little information available about this. Thus, we conclude that halitosis is a change that could affect self-esteem and confidence of the people, a negative effect on social behavior, and that the issue requires action halitosis wide range of multi population in order to clarify doubts and myths related to its etiology and its treatment.