Download What is Xerostomia?

Xerostomia
What is Xerostomia?
• It is the subjective complaint of dry mouth
due to a lack of saliva.
• A 50% reduction in saliva output if often
needed for patients to notice the symptoms of
xerostomia.
• The effects can range from minor irritation
that can be treated with over the counter
medication to complete devastation, such as
tooth loss, caries, gum disease, and ulcerated
mucous membranes .
The Importance of Saliva
 Saliva is a mixture that comes from major and minor
salivary glands and crevicular gingival fluid.
 It is composed of 99% water with sodium, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, and phosphate.
 Functions of saliva:




Lubrication and protection
Buffering and cleaning
Maintenance of tooth integrity
Antibacterial activity
 Taste
 Digestion
What causes xerostomia?
 Medications
 Cancer related treatments
 Age
 Most frequent among the elderly, not due to age,
but to the effects of taking multiple medications.
 Recreational drugs
 Marijuana
 Meth
Medications
 Medications are the #1 cause of dry mouth.
 Over 400 prescription drugs are associated with dry
mouth.
 Most common cause of drug induced xerostomia is the
altering of neural pathways that stimulate salivary gland
secretion.
 Stimulation by the sympathetic nerves produces less
volume and more viscous saliva.
 Drugs that have an anticholinergic action reduce the
volume of serous saliva.
Medications
Pain
Aleve
Advil
Motrin
Darvon
Levorphanol
Methadone
Codeine
Oxycontin
Mental
Health
Abilify
Cymbalta
Klonopin
Lexapro
Paxil
Prozac
Xanax
Zoloft
Allergy
Allegra-D
Benadryl
Clarinex
Claritin-D
Dimetane
Trinalin
Zaditor
Zyrtec
Asthma
Advair
Alupent
Beclovent
Maxair
Proventil
Spiriva
Tilade
Ventolin
Heart
Disease
Aceon
Altace
Capoten
Coreg
Diovan
Guanidine
Lotrel
Norvasc
Autoimmune and Systemic
Diseases
 Diabetes mellitus
 Parkinson’s Disease
 Hypo and Hyper thyroidism
 Cystic Fibrosis
 Sarcoidosis
 Sjogren’s Syndrome
 An autoimmune disease characterized by intense infiltration
of exocrine glands, making it difficult to produce fluids for
normal function
Cancer Related Treatments
 Radiation and chemotherapy treatments can permanently damage the
salivary glands.
 Damage to salivary glands results in reduced saliva production or stops it
altogether.
 Patients usually never have the same level of saliva as they did prior to
treatments.
 Chemotherapy


Mild and temporary xerostomia
40% of patients experience
 Radiation Therapy

Xerostomia is one of the most common and serious side effects

Severity depends on the dose and area to which the radiation was delivered.
Sources
Isfeld, Darren DMD and Paula K. Friedman DDS, MSD, MPH.
“Xerostomia From the Beginning: We explore Dry Mouth’s
Etiology, Symptoms, and Methods of Diagnosis.”
Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. October 2010. 72-75. Web.
25 Oct. 2012
Greco, Nicole RDH, BSDH. “Xerostomia and the Cancer
Patient.” Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. January 2007.
28,30. Web. 25 Oct. 2012
Spolarich, Ann Eshenaur RH, PhD. “Medication use and
Xerostomia: Treating Drug Induced Dry Mouth.”
Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. July 2005. 22-24. Web. 25
Oct. 2012