Purpose: In 2013, we reported the results of a third‐generation oral moisture‐checking device in a multicentre clinical study involving patients with dry mouth and healthy volunteers. Subsequently, several improvements have been made to the third‐generation device, and a fourth‐generation device is now commercially available. This study aimed to confirm the usefulness of this improved fourth‐generation device in the diagnosis of dry mouth and to assess the physiological wetness of lingual mucosa by using this device. Materials and Method: This multicentre study comprised subjects with dry mouth (dry mouth group) and those without dry mouth (healthy group). Results: In this study, the degree of moisture was considerably different between the two groups. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed an area under the curve value of 0.831. Sensitivity and specificity values were close to 80% in cases where the degree of moisture ≥29.6 was defined as normal, ≤27.9 was defined as dry mouth, and 28.0–29.5 was defined as borderline dry mouth. Conclusions: These results suggest that the improved fourth‐generation moisture‐checking device can be used for the diagnosis of oral dryness.

Objective: This multicenter clinical study was to assess the clinical usability of an oral moisturechecking device in detecting the dry mouth patients and evaluating the optimal measurement site. Materials and Methods: The study group comprised 250 patients with dry mouth and 241 healthy volunteer subjects at 13 medical centers. This device was used to measure the moisture degrees of the lingual mucosa and the buccal mucosa. Subjective oral dryness, objective oral dryness, and saliva flow rates were also compared between the two groups. For statistical analysis, receiver-operating characteristic analysis was performed to calculate the area under the curve (AUC). Results: The moisture degree of the lingual mucosa was significantly lower in the dry mouth group (27.2 ± 4.9) than that in the healthy group (29.5 ± 3.1, AUC = 0.653). When a lingual mucosa moisture degree of 31.0 or higher was defined as normal, less than 27.0 as dry mouth, and 27.0 to less than 31.0 as borderline zone of dry mouth, both the sensitivity and the specificity for the diagnosis of dry mouth were close to 80%. Conclusion: These results suggest that the oral moisture-checking device is a usable screening device for dry mouth.

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Anti-SS-A/Ro antibody (SS-A) and anti-SS-B/La antibody (SS-B) are important serologic markers in the diagnostic criteria for Primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Although anti-centromere antibody (ACA)-positive SS is frequently experienced, ACA is not included in these criteria. The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical features of ACA-positive SS and discuss the usefulness of ACA in diagnosing SS. Forty-five patients with SS were divided into the following three groups: SS-A only-positive group (n = 17), SS-A and SS-B both-positive group (n = 18), and ACA only-positive group (n = 10). As a control, 54 patients without SS who were negative for antinuclear antibodies were also evaluated. The following items were compared among groups: Saxon's test, unstimulated whole salivary flow (UWSF), salivary gland scintigraphy (SGS), histopathologic examination of the minor salivary glands, Schirmer's test, and fluorescein staining of the cornea. In the ACA only-positive group, Saxon's test was 0.21 ± 0.26 g/2 min (mean ± SD) and UWSF was 0.16 ± 0.25 ml/10 min (mean ± SD), showing a significant decrease in salivary secretion (p < 0.05; vs. non-SS). On SGS, accumulation and disappearance of (99m)TcO (4) (-) were significantly decreased (p < 0.05; vs. non-SS). Histopathologic examination showed moderate or severe lymphocytic infiltration and tissue destruction in all cases, similar to that in the SS-A- and/or SS-B-positive groups. Schirmer's test and fluorescein staining were positive in 60% and 80%, respectively. Impaired lacrimal secretion and keratoconjunctivitis sicca were similar to those in SS-A- and/or SS-B-positive groups. These results suggest that ACA is an autoantibody reflecting impairment in the salivary and lacrimal glands and may be a useful serologic marker for SS.

A new oral moisture checking device (Mucus ® ) has been developed that can measure oral mucosal moisture within 2 seconds. The results of this study suggest that oral mucosal moisture can be measured with the new oral moisture checking device without any inter-operator error. AbstractPurpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that may influence the results of measurements of oral mucosal moisture using the new oral moisture checking device, especially in relation to the operator and the sensor cover. Methods:Oral mucosal moisture was measured using a new oral moisture checking device (Mucus ® ). To determine the influence of the operator on the measured values by the oral moisture checking device, 5 operators measured the oral mucosal moisture in 12 subjects. The differences were analyzed using the Friedman test. To determine the influence of the sensor cover, one operator measured the oral mucosal moisture in 12 subjects using two sensor covers. The differences were analyzed by Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. Results:The result of the Friedman test revealed the absence of any significant influence of the operator on the measured values of oral mucosal moisture by the oral moisture checking device. The results of the Wilcoxon's signed-rank test revealed that the measured values of oral mucosal moisture by the measuring device differed by about 1.6 % between the two sensor covers (P<0.01). Conclusion:The results of this study suggest that oral mucosal moisture can be measured using the new oral moisture checking device without any interoperator error. However, there is some possibility of the measured values differing depending on the sensor cover used.

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Clinical significanceThis study investigated the relationship between subjective oral dryness and stimulated saliva or oral mucosal moisture. Both stimulated saliva and oral mucosal moisture are related to subjective oral dryness, and the Saxon test and the test using an oral moisture checking device are useful for assessing subjective oral dryness. AbstractPurpose: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective oral dryness and stimulated saliva or oral moisture. Methods: Twenty-one patients with subjective oral dryness (OD) and 21 healthy adults (HA) were enrolled in the study. The Saxon test was performed by chewing a gauze sponge for 2 minutes. Oral moisture was measured at the lingual mucosa (LM) and buccal mucosa (BM) by using an oral moisture checking device. Group differences in the amount of stimulated saliva and oral moisture were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test and Student's t test. Results: The average amount of salivary secretion in OD and HA in the Saxon test was 0.65 ± 0.55 and 2.34 ± 1.41 g/2 min, respectively; the difference between the groups was significant (p < 0.01). The oral moisture at the LM in OD and HA was 27.2% ± 2.9% and 32.3% ± 1.7%, respectively; this difference was significant (p < 0.01). The oral moisture at the BM in OD and HA was 32.6% ± 2.1% and 34.0% ± 2.2%, respectively; this difference was also significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the amount of stimulated saliva became less than 2.00 g and the moisture at the LM became less than 30.0% in patients with subjective oral dryness. These results suggest that stimulated saliva and oral moisture are related to subjective oral dryness; thus, both the Saxon test and the test using an oral moisture checking device are useful for the assessment of subjective oral dryness.

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