Investigating the relationship between hyposalivation and mucosal wetness

Samira Osailan (1) , Rashida Pramanik (2) , Soha Shirodaria (3) , Stephen J Challacombe (4) , Gordon Burgess Proctor (5)

1 Salivary Research Unit
2 Salivary Research Unit
3 Consumer Health Care
4 Department of Oral Medicine
5 Salivary Research Unit

Mucosal wetness (MW) reflects the layer of residual saliva that covers the oral mucosal surfaces. Objectives: to determine MW at different oral mucosa sites and to investigate the relationship between MW, Unstimulated Whole salivary flow rates (UWS) and clinical oral dryness score (CODS). Method: 100 dry mouth patients and 50 healthy subjects. MW was sampled with filter paper strips at four sites inside the mouth; Anterior Hard Palate (AHP), Buccal mucosa (BUC), Anterior Tongue (AT), Lower Lip (LL) and measured with a micro-moisture meter. Reproducibility was assessed by repeated sampling and diurnal variation was examined. Results: MW in healthy subjects showed site variation and means ± SD were; AHP (11 ± 11.7 µm), BUC (32 ± 14.8 µm), AT (65 ± 17.2 µm), and LL (25 ± 13.5 µm). Dry mouth patients with reduced UWS showed increased CODS. MW at all four sites was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in dry mouth patients compared with the healthy subjects. Reproducibility of MW measurement using the intra-class correlation coefficient showed agreement at different visits within subject. MW of the AT showed a positive correlation with UWS (p < 0.05). Conclusion: MW is a reliable measure of oral dryness and had a positive correlation with UWS.

Mots clés: Medicine

Samira Osailan, Rashida Pramanik, Soha Shirodaria, Stephen J Challacombe, Gordon Burgess Proctor. Investigating the relationship between hyposalivation and mucosal wetness. Oral Diseases, 2010, 17 (1), pp.109. ⟨10.1111/j.1601-0825.2010.01715.x⟩. ⟨hal-00599898⟩