Eradication of Gastric Helicobacter pylori Ameliorates Halitosis and Tongue Coating

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>The influence of gastric <jats:italic>Helicobacter pylori</jats:italic> infection on the development of oral pathoses remains unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of gastric <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> infection on occurrence of halitosis and coated tongue.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Materials and methods</jats:title> <jats:p>Ninety-eight patients with dyspepsia were included in the study and their salivary samples and gastric biopsies were analyzed for the presence of <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> by Nested-PCR. Halitosis and coated tongue were assessed at the initial examination and 3 months after systemic eradication therapy against <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic>.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Gastric biopsies of 66 patients were positive for <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic>. Only one saliva sample was <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> positive. At initial examination, halitosis was observed in 20 patients (30.3%) out of 66 who had gastric <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> infection and in only 3 patients (9.4%) out of 32 without <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> infection (p = 0.0236). Coated tongue was diagnosed in 18 (27.2%) patients with the infection compared to only 2 (6.25%) patients negative for gastric <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> (p = 0.0164). Patients with gastric infection were treated with the triple eradication therapy (Amoxicillin, Clarythromycin, Pantoprazol) and their gastric biopsies and oral status were examined 3 months later. Halitosis was significantly more prevalent in the group of patients with persistent <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> infection (42.1%) compared to only 6.4% of patients in the group where infection was successfully eradicated (p = 0.0012). Coated tongue was diagnosed in 47.4% of patients where <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> was still present after eradication therapy and in only 6.4% where eradication succeeded (p = 0.0003).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>Our findings suggest that eradication of gastric <jats:italic>H. pylori</jats:italic> significantly alleviates halitosis and coated tongue, the two oral conditions that may be considered as extragastric manifestations of this common chronic bacterial infection.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>How to cite this article</jats:title> <jats:p>Zaric S, Bojic B, Popovic B, Milasin J. Eradication of Gastric <jats:italic>Helicobacter pylori</jats:italic> ameliorates Halitosis and Tongue Coating. J Contemp Dent Pract 2015;16(3):205-209.</jats:p> </jats:sec>