Xerostomia can be defined as a feeling of dryness of mouth, which may or may not be accompanied with reduced salivary secretions. Xerostomia may result in localized and systemic disturbances within the body. The overall global prevalence of xerostomia is 22% with wide variation among different countries due to difference in target population. This review presents the recent literature on the diagnostic methodologies that are present in recent times through subjective and objective corridors. The most commonly used subjective methods for the xerostomia diagnosis include: Fox questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Xerostomia Inventory (XI), and Shortened Xerostomia Inventory (SXI). Objective xerostomia diagnostic tools include salivary flow rate assessment. Aside from this, there are numerous radiographical modalities that can be used especially in diagnosing salivary gland disorders or radiation exposure due to oncological treatments which can also provide the added information to diagnose or monitor xerostomia. These radiographic tools include computer tomography (CT), scintigraphy, sialography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasonography. Different combination of tools gives a better xerostomia assessment, selection of which also depends on the age and health condition of the patient. KEYWORDS: flow rate; hyposalivation; diagnosis; oral dryness; salivary gland dysfunction
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.