In order to characterize the severity of psychosomatic features of the patients who maintain the false conviction of the foulness of their own breath, thirty subjects (10 men and 20 women, aged 13 to 66) were interviewed by trained dentists and psychiatrists.
The patients were classified in three types (Class 1 to 3) according to the degree of their cognition of foul breath, ideas of reference, delusion of reference and social adaptation. Class 1 patients were those who were cocerned about foul breath but showed no idea or delusion of reference and had good social adaptation. Class 2 patients were convinced of the foulness of their breath and had idea of reference and problems of social adaptation. The patients most strongly convinced of the foulness of their breath were placed in Class 3.
The patients in this criteria had idea of reference, delusion of reference, and hallucination indicating poor social adaptation. The role of dentists in the treatment plan for imagined foul breath can be decided by the classification of the severity of the syndrome. Class 1 patients who sometimes need anti-anxiety drugs can be treated by dentists, but treatment of Class 2 patients who need antipsychotics should be conducted in cooperation with psychiatrists. The treatment of Class 3 patients should be mainly conducted by psychiatrists, but dentists can provide support for the continuation of the treatment.
