The purpose of the study was to describe the patients’ perception of and the dental hygienist students’ knowledge regarding bad breath (halitosis) in a University educational clinic in Kristianstad. The study is based on a waitingroom survey (n=100), and a studentpoll (n=40).

The result of the patientpoll showed that 58 % felt that they rather would not talk about bad breath, and that 44 % found it that embarrassing to talk about. However 81 % experienced that they were bothered by bad breath from other people. The majority 98 % felt that it was important to smell good from the mouth and 90 % would appreciate if someone could spoke to them that they had bad breath. The studentpolls demonstrated that 75 % was familiar with the term halitosis, and that 77 % knew how this could be treated. The conclusion of this study was, that bad breath is something that many individuals are bothered by, and that more then 58 % of the patients did not want to talk about. The studentpoll showed that the dentalhygienist students had god knowledge regarding halitosis and how halitosis could be treated. The majority of the students wanted more theoretical and practical education regarding the ethiology and treatment of halitosis.