Sammanfattning
Oral dryness is a main complaint in patients with primary Sjögren''s Syndrome (pSS) and is
associated with decreased health related quality of life. This study aims to evaluate the extent of oral
clinical findings in patients with subjective complaints, hypothesizing that oral findings are prevalent
in patients with many subjective complaints.
Twenty-two patients who reported many subjective oral complaints in a previous mail survey were
included in the clinical study. A detailed clinical examination was performed and questionnaires
related to quality of life and dryness symptoms were again completed.
Dry mouth was reported by 91 % of the patients. Impaired production of unstimulated whole saliva,
stimulated whole saliva, and parotid saliva was observed in 16, 13 and 8 patients, respectively.
Mean DMFT was 20.7, and high candida counts were found in 15 patients. Other clinical findings
varied among patients including caries, periodontitis, oral candidiasis, and peri-implantitis. Low
saliva secretion correlated with some parameters for health-related quality of life.
Our findings demonstrate that subjective measures were reflected by oral clinical findings of low
salivary secretion, high DMFT and candidiasis. The wide spectrum of symptoms and clinical findings
among pSS patients stress the need for individual treatment.