Dry mouth in children: an under-reported condition?

Abstract

Dry mouth has a profound effect on the oral environment and alters susceptibility to oral disease. It is well-recognized in adults but affected children may not report symptoms even when severe oral dryness is present, potentially leading to late diagnosis and missed opportunities to prevent caries and other adverse sequelae. This article describes the causes and clinical signs of salivary hypofunction in children and young people and documents some associated emotional and social impacts on patients and their families. It is illustrated by four cases where the underlying diagnoses were 22q11 micro-deletion syndrome, congenital salivary gland aplasia, sarcoidosis and medication-induced. CPD/Clinical Relevance: An awareness of the possible presentations, underlying causes and impacts of dry mouth in children and young people will enable vigilant dental practitioners to diagnose the problem at an earlier stage, so that appropriate enhanced preventive care and additional support can be offered promptly.

Oral Diseases and Oral Health–Related Quality of Life among Kenyan Children and Adolescents with HIV

“…Children who had dry mouth and enamel hypoplasia had the worst OHRQoL in the global domain and oral symptoms subdomain. Similar results were found in other studies among children with mixed dentition (age, 6 to 12 y; Buczynski et al 2011; Ivanova et al 2017). When compared with other studies on the OHRQoL among children and adolescents without HIV infection in Kenya, CALHIV’s OHRQoL score was lower (Kemoli et al 2018).…”

“…Similar results were found in other studies among children with mixed dentition (age, 6 to 12 y; Buczynski et al. 2011 ; Ivanova et al. 2017 ).…”

“…While our study showed 68% of children with dental caries and 83% with at least 1 oral disease, a study among 2- to 5-y-old children in Nairobi and Mombasa found an 84% prevalence of untreated dental caries ( Hussein and Opinya 2017 ). Although dry mouth has been underreported and diagnosed late, especially among children ( Walsh 2007 ; Ivanova et al 2017 ), it was associated with worse OHRQoL among children, especially those aged 6 to 12 y. For CALHIV, dry mouth might be due to HIV-associated salivary gland disease or the side effects of ART ( Schiødt 1992 ).…”