Saliwell Ltd., Harutzim, Israel.
Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(34):5515-21. doi: 10.2174/138161212803307509.
Hyposalivation, often symptomatically manifested as xerostomia (dry mouth sensation) may indicate the presence of altered salivary gland function and places patients at a higher risk for oral complications. Diverse symptoms and consequences have been associated with hyposalivation, such as difficulties with speaking, swallowing and tasting and a significant increase in dental caries and other oral infections. Although hyposalivation may be caused by a variety of conditions (head and neck radiotherapy, Sjogren's syndrome, medications, etc.), its hallmark symptom, xerostomia, is common to all such disorders, and varies only in intensity. Therefore, treatment is generally non-specific, and similar therapeutic approaches are used in all cases. In the present paper, available palliative oral care in the form of saliva substitutes, such as mouthwashes or gels, is detailed. Also salivary flow stimulants, such as certain pharmaceutical or gustatory preparations, acupuncture and electrostimulation are reviewed. Finally, other approaches, currently under investigation, such as biological and gene therapies, are discussed. The degree of evidence of the best known methods and their intended use are analyzed.
唾液分泌减少，常表现为口干（口腔干燥感），可能表明唾液腺功能发生改变，使患者更容易发生口腔并发症。唾液分泌减少与多种症状和后果相关，如说话、吞咽和味觉困难，龋齿和其他口腔感染显著增加。尽管唾液分泌减少可能由多种情况引起（头颈部放疗、干燥综合征、药物等），但其标志性症状口干在所有这些疾病中都很常见，仅在强度上有所不同。因此，治疗通常是非特异性的，所有情况下都采用类似的治疗方法。本文详细介绍了现有的以唾液替代品（如漱口液或凝胶）形式的姑息性口腔护理。还回顾了唾液流刺激剂，如某些药物或味觉制剂、针灸和电刺激。最后，还讨论了其他正在研究中的方法，如生物和基因疗法。分析了最知名方法的证据程度及其预期用途。
