Laser Tongue Debridement for Oral Malodor
Halitosis
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Halitosis
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- an individual (male or female) who can understand and voluntarily sign an informed consent form
- a baseline organoleptic oral malodor score of at least 2
Exclusion Criteria:
- severe caries,
- signs of gingival inflammation on intraoral exam
- possible extra-oral halitosis (tonsillitis, sinusitis, and pulmonary pathologic conditions, or a condition that may contribute to systemic halitosis, such as hepatic cirrhosis or uncontrolled diabetes)
- antibiotic treatment within 1 month prior to study
- pregnant
Sites / Locations
- New York Head & Neck Institute offices
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Active Comparator
Waterlase Express Laser System
Tongue scraper
10-minute treatment with the Waterlase Express (Biolase, Irvine CA). The dorso-posterior surface of the tongue is treated with the laser in 10 passes of 60 seconds each with 10 seconds of rest in between. Laser settings were 60μs pulse width, 4W, 40Hz, 10% air and 5% water irrigation. An MC12 sapphire laser tip (Biolase, Irvine CA) is held 3mm away from the tongue in a constant sweeping motion during treatment with passes overlapping passes in alternate direction, side to side motion and front to back motion with laser fluence on the tongue surface calculated at 3J/cm2. The settings were non ablative and non thermal.
tongue scraping