Sammanfattning
Saliva plays an important role in maintaining healthy oral mucosa and teeth as well as oral function. Hyposalivation designates pathological low saliva secretion while xerostomia designates the subjective feeling of oral dryness. Xerostomia is often associated with hyposalivation and may severely affect nutritional intake, social interaction and quality of life.
Hyposalivation and xerostomia are often iatrogenic results of treatment of a disease, e.g. radiation therapy for head and neck cancer or adverse effects of medications. Local or systemic disorders and diseases are also common causes of compromised saliva secretion, e.g. Sjögren’s syndrome. Thus, a thorough diagnostic workup and early diagnosis of salivary gland dysfunction is crucial to provide appropriate treatment and alleviation of salivary gland dysfunction and xerostomia and to prevent oral sequelae. New treatment modalities are under development; e.g. biologic treatments, gene transfer and stem cell therapy.