Identification of oral bacterial species associated with halitosis.

Background: The authors examined the tongue bacteria associated with oral halitosis (bad breath originating from the oral cavity), focusing on noncultivable bacteria-bacteria that cannot be identified by bacterial culture techniques.

Methods: The authors took samples from the dorsal tongue surface of eight adult subjects with halitosis and five control subjects who did not have halitosis. They identified the bacteria in these samples by using both anaerobic culture and direct amplification of 16S ribosomal DNA, a method that can identify both cultivable and noncultivable microorganisms.