Su Nan, Marek Cindy L, Ching Victor, Grushka Miriam
Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
J Can Dent Assoc. 2011;77:b85.
Patients with xerostomia, or dry mouth, resulting from various causes, are at higher risk for developing caries because of a loss of saliva and its benefits. A loss of saliva increases the acidity of the mouth, which affects many factors that contribute to the development of caries, such as proliferation of acid-producing bacteria, inability to buffer the acid produced by bacteria or from ingested foods, loss of minerals from tooth surfaces and inability to replenish the lost minerals, and loss of lubrication. Currently, a number of new products that can substitute for these functions of saliva or induce production of saliva are available in Canada. Some of these products are reviewed and a protocol for caries prevention in this high-risk population is proposed.
由于各种原因导致口干症（即口腔干燥）的患者，因唾液流失及其益处丧失，患龋齿的风险更高。唾液流失会增加口腔酸度，这会影响许多导致龋齿形成的因素，例如产酸细菌的增殖、无法缓冲细菌或摄入食物产生的酸、牙齿表面矿物质流失以及无法补充流失的矿物质，还有润滑作用丧失。目前，加拿大有许多能够替代唾液这些功能或诱导唾液分泌的新产品。本文对其中一些产品进行了综述，并提出了针对这一高风险人群的龋齿预防方案。
