A study by researchers working in Brazil shows that antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in which blue light targets annatto colorant is a feasible and effective option for treatment of halitosis in mouth-breathing children. Annatto is an orange-reddish pigment derived from the seeds of Bixa orellana (achiote or urucum), a shrub native to tropical parts of the Americas. Mouth breathing dries up the saliva, reducing its antibacterial and cleansing effects, so that halitosis is likely to worsen as a result.
Halitosis is the medical term for bad breath, which may reflect local or systemic conditions such as gingivitis, periodontal disease, diabetic acidosis, hepatic failure or respiratory infection. An article on the study is published in the journal PLOS ONE . The researchers selected 52 mouth-breathing children aged 6-12 with a diagnosis of halitosis confirmed using an inexpensive halimeter available from online retailers (enabling dentists to perform the diagnostic protocol easily in their consulting rooms).
The first author of the article is Laura Hermida Cardoso, a PhD candidate under the Interinstitutional Doctorate Program (Dinter) run by Nove de Julho University (UNINOVE) in São Paulo (Brazil) and the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU) in Montevideo. The co-authors are all researchers at the Metropolitan University of Santos (UNIMES) in São Paulo state. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) consists of the administration of a photosensitizer combined with a light.