Objective and non-invasive evaluation of dry mouth.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to evaluate the moisture checker (MucusIII), a new device for measuring moisture of the oral submucosa.


METHODS
Defective salivary secretion was induced by sialoadenectomy (n=8), while the remaining five guinea pigs underwent sham surgery (control group). We measured the unstimulated salivary flow rate, wetness of the oral mucosa using the oral tester (L-SALIVO) and moisture of the submucosa of the tongue using MucusIII. All tests were performed before (baseline) and 1 month after surgery.


RESULTS
Sialoadenectomy significantly reduced both the salivary flow rate and the tester reading at 10 and at 30s (p<0.01). The vale due to the MucusIII as significantly reduced in animals with sialoadenectomy (p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The MucusIII is a device for objective evaluation of the moisture of the oral cavity.
Department of Otolaryngology, Social Insurance Central General Hospital, 3-22-1 Hyakuninn-cho, Shinnjyuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan. shinchan-tky@umin.ac.jp
Shin-ichi
S
Ishimoto
Kouichi
K
Tsunoda
Youko
Y
Fujimaki
Kazunari
K
Okada
Yuuki
Y
Saito
Makoto
M
Kinoshita
Naonobu
N
Takeuchi
D000818:Animals; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004867:Equipment Design; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000503:physiopathology; D012472:Salivation / Q000502:physiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D014059:Tongue / Q000503:physiopathology; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology