Xerostomia is a common complaint of nearly half of the elderly population and about one-fifth of younger adults. It causes several signs and symptoms, and compromise oral functions and health-related quality-of-life. Multiple reasons are proposed to describe the etiology of xerostomia such as local factors, psychogenic factors, and systemic diseases. In order to manage xerostomia effectively, identification of the main causality is mandatory. The aim of this review was to present systemic diseases leading to xerostomia with their mechanisms of action. We used various general search engines and specialized databases such as Google, Google Scholar, Yahoo, PubMed, PubMed Central, MedLine Plus, Medknow, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, Scopus, WebMD, EMBASE, and authorized textbooks to find relevant topics by means of Medical Subject Headings keywords such as “xerostomia,” “hyposalivations,” “mouth dryness,” “disease,” and “systemic.” We appraised 97 English-language articles published over the last 40 years in both medical and dental journals including reviews, meta-analysis, original papers, and case reports. Upon compilation of relevant data, it was concluded that autoimmune diseases most frequently involve salivary glands and cause xerostomia followed by diabetes mellitus, renal failure, and graft-versus-host disease. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms of systemic disease-related xerostomia are: autoimmunity, infiltration of immunocompetent cells, granuloma formation, fibrosis and dehydration, deposition of proteinaceous substances, bacterial infection, and side-effects of medications.

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The cortical bone thickness evaluated using CBCT had no correlation with the primary stability of dental implants.

Background: Radiography is as a part of periodontal examination. Early detection of periodontal disease is important in the prevention of tooth loss and patient's general health. Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare diagnostic accuracy of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) with digital direct intraoral radiography, in assessment of periodontal osseous lesions. Materials and Methods: Fifty interproximal bone losses were evaluated in this study. First, direct digital intraoral radiography (SoproLa Ciotat-France) was taken, and then CBCT (Newtom 3G, Verona. Italy) was carried out. Periodontal flap surgery was done to achieve the gold standard. The distance between cementoenamel junction (CEJ) and the bottom of the vertical pattern of bone loss or the most coronal level of bone in horizontal pattern was measured. These measurements were analyzed by paired t test. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the degree of agreement between observers. Results: Accuracy is higher with CBCT in evaluating vertical dimension of periodontal bony defects (0.53 ± 0.59 to 0.56 ± 0.45) (P < 0.001). ICC shows high level of agreement between observers in two image modality. Conclusions: We conclude that CBCT and digital images can be used in periodontal bone assessments; each modality should be chosen based on defect type and patient's specific characteristics.