Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 24 views

    Stier K

    Uploaded by

    api-547645717

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Stier K

    Uploaded by

    api-547645717
    24 views1 page

    Original Title

    stier k

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    24 views1 page

    Stier K

    Uploaded by

    api-547645717

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 1

    Stier, K. (2019). The etiology of xerostomia. Dimensions of Dental Hygiene, 17(7):50-53.

    As Dental Hygienists, it is our job to do intra and extraoral examinations, to detect dry

    mouth. Xerostomia creates dry mouth and is a decrease in salivary flow. We as hygienists should

    be able to detect some of the key symptoms of xerostomia. Saliva is 99% water, and the other

    1% is enzymes, proteins, antibodies, and many other things that help out our oral cavity. Saliva

    aids in the integrity of our soft tissues, such as our gingiva, tongue, and mucosa. It also aids in

    swallowing, talking, ingesting our food, and protects tooth structure. Intra orally, we should be

    able to detect the redness, of the mucosa and gingiva tissue, from the saliva not properly

    lubricating the oral tissues. Extra orally, we may detect dry and chapped lips, from the lack of

    saliva. Medication is one of the main reasons patients get xerostomia. The chemicals in the

    medications can alter the salivary gland secretion. Patients who take more than one medication

    are also at a higher risk of xerostomia. It is also very common to treat a patient with a mental

    illness; the main side effects are xerostomia. A systemic disease, such as Sjorgen syndrome. An

    autoimmune disorder that targets the salivary glands, and causes severe dry mouth. Many

    conditions within your body can affect your oral cavity. Your lifestyle and eating habits can also

    affect your salivary flow. Some ways we can help is by giving them an oral mouth rinse, certain

    kinds of toothpaste, and giving them the correct information about how alcohol, drugs, and

    certain sugary drinks can affect their salivary flow.

    This article was very informative and very beneficial to my clinical knowledge for certain

    times to come. This article was able to give me ideas, on what to look for, what could be causing

    xerostomia, and how to fix it. I believe this article was very beneficial to me because I will be

    able to use this information in my clinical situations where some of my patients will have

    xerostomia, and I will be able to tell them why or how they got it.

    You might also like