The Impact of Oral Health Education on Awareness of Halitosis Among The General Public

Abstract

Halitosis is a common oral health problem in the general population but is often overlooked, even though it can lower self-confidence and serve as an early indicator of periodontal disease. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of a structured oral health education intervention in improving the public’s knowledge of halitosis, its intraoral etiology, and its prevention. This quantitative study, employing a one-group pre-test and post-test design, involved 200 respondents from various demographic backgrounds. Knowledge levels were assessed before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the interactive educational session using a validated structured questionnaire. A paired-sample t-test revealed a highly significant increase in the mean knowledge score, from 6.79 ± 1.53 to 8.48 ± 1.47 following the intervention (p < 0.0001). Analysis of the normalized gain score (N-Gain) yielded an average value of 61.38%, which falls into the moderate (effective) category; 38.5% of respondents achieved the high improvement category, and 46.5% fell into the moderate category. The most notable increase in knowledge was observed in correcting the public’s perception that halitosis is not only triggered by strongly odorous foods but also stems from intraoral factors such as plaque buildup, tartar, gingivitis, or periodontitis. Key findings from this study indicate that structured oral health education has been shown to effectively improve the public’s understanding of halitosis.