Abstract
ObjectivesSeveral questionnaires, such as the internationally validated and frequently used Xerostomia Inventory (XI), have been developed to quantify the subjective feeling of a dry mouth. These questionnaires quantify the overall perception of dry mouth but lack the possibility to differentiate between various intra-oral regions. In this light, a novel questionnaire, the Regional Oral Dryness Inventory (RODI), which quantifies the severity of dryness at various locations in the mouth, was evaluated.Materials and methodsA retrospective case report study was designed. Data were collected from patients who visited the saliva clinic for Special Care Dentistry in Amsterdam. Data, including the saliva secretion rates, RODI scores, the Xerostomia Inventory (XI) score, and Clinical Oral Dryness Score (CODS), were extracted from the electronic health record system Oase Dental.ResultsA total of 337 patients participated in this study with an average age of 54 ± 17 years. The majority of the patients were female (68.5%). The perceived dryness as determined by the RODI was the highest for the posterior palate and the lowest for the floor of the mouth. The highest correlations were found between the corresponding regions in the RODI and regionally related individual items of the XI and CODS.ConclusionThere is a significant difference in dry-mouth feeling at different intra-oral locations.Clinical relevanceRegional evaluation of xerostomia with RODI might improve diagnosis of xerostomia by helping to discriminate between different potential causes of oral dryness in patients and for evaluating the efficacy of mouth-moistening products. RODI is highly accessible and easy to perform in dental practices during routine clinical assessment.
Highlights
Saliva is a multi-functional fluid, which provides mucosal lubrication and moistening, and protection of the teeth and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Saliva flow can be impaired due to many factors
The purpose of this study is to evaluate a recently developed questionnaire, Regional Oral Dryness Inventory (RODI), which quantifies the severity of dryness at various locations in the mouth
Based on the unstimulated whole saliva (UWS), chewing-stimulated whole saliva (CH-SWS), and A-SWS flow rates, respectively, 26.9%, 48.6%, and 13.1% of the study population suffered from hyposalivation
Summary
Saliva flow can be impaired due to many factors. A reduction in saliva secretion rate can be the result of xerogenic medications, radiotherapy of the head and neck, or systemic diseases such as Sjögren’s syndrome [5,6,7]. Patients suffering from a reduced salivary flow rate may complain about taste alterations, swallowing difficulties, and a burning sensation in the mouth. A reduced salivary flow rate is known as hyposalivation and can objectively be determined by sialometry. The subjective sensation of a dry mouth experienced by the patient is called xerostomia [9, 10], which can only be
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