Xerostomia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Xerostomia, including details on dry mouth, treatment, causes, lack of saliva.

Preliminary results of moisture checker for Mucus in diagnosing dry mouth.

Yamada H, Nakagawa Y, Nomura Y, Yamamoto K, Suzuki M, Watanabe NY, Saito I, Seto K

First Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. yamada-hi@tsurumi-u.ac.jp

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of Moisture Checker for Mucus (MCM), a device which measures the weight percent of water content in the oral mucosal epithelium, for the diagnosis of dry mouth. METHOD: Forty-three consecutive patients seen at the Dry Mouth Clinic of Tsurumi University were divided into two groups by the diagnostic criteria of hyposalivation defined by the stimulated salivary flow rate < or =10 ml per 10 min. The MCM values in the buccal, tongue and labial mucosa in each group were compared. RESULTS: The value of the normal salivation group was significantly higher when compared with that of the hyposalivation group both in the buccal and tongue mucosa, P = 0.01 and P = 0.046, respectively. CONCLUSION: Moisture Checker for Mucus has the potential to be a useful device in the screening of hyposalivation.

Published 4 November 2005 in Oral Dis, 11(6): 405-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Xerostomia Research Today. All Rights Reserved.