Xerostomia: Analysis among dental patients

Abstract

The present study was conducted to estimate the incidenceof xerostomia (dry mouth) among 200 dental patients haddifferent systemic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes,cardiovascular (CV) problems, anemia, arthritis and cancer.Distribution of xerostomia according to the type of systemicdisease, age and sex was analyzed.In this study, 64% of total patient represent xerostomia,24.5% of xerostomic cases were males, while 39.5% were females.Incidence of xerostomia was correlated directly withage where 16% of xerostomic patients were limited in agegroup between 21–40 years, while 48% of xerostomicpatients were limited in the age group between 41–60 years.The results concluded that systemic disease played rolein development of xerostomia which could be due to underlyingmedical condition, or due to their medication intake. Patientscomplained from xerostomia were instructed for goodoral hygiene and increase their water intake. In certain cases,pilocarpine was indicated to relieve their symptoms.