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Salivary enhancement therapies
1Department of Oral Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA. pcfox@comcast.net
Caries Research
|May 22, 2004
Summary
Reduced salivary output significantly increases dental caries risk. While pilocarpine and cevimeline enhance saliva, improved secretagogues are needed for better caries prevention in patients with salivary dysfunction.
Area of Science:
- Oral health
- Biomedical science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Chronic reduction in salivary output markedly increases dental caries.
- Saliva plays a crucial role in protecting oral hard tissues.
- Efforts to enhance salivary function aim to mitigate caries and oral complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current methods for enhancing salivary function.
- To evaluate the efficacy of systemic secretagogues.
- To identify future research directions for improved salivary stimulation and caries prevention.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on salivary stimulants.
- Analysis of clinical trials for systemic agents like pilocarpine and cevimeline.
- Exploration of emerging therapeutic approaches.
Main Results:
- Masticatory and gustatory stimulation are common methods to increase salivary function.
- Pilocarpine and cevimeline demonstrate salivary enhancement in specific conditions (e.g., Sjögren's syndrome, postradiation xerostomia).
- No current secretagogues are directly proven to prevent or reduce caries in patients with salivary dysfunction.
Conclusions:
- Existing secretagogues like pilocarpine and cevimeline have limitations, including side effect profiles and duration of activity.
- There is a need for more potent, longer-acting secretagogues with fewer side effects.
- Future research should explore gene therapy, artificial salivary glands, and salivary transplantation for enhanced salivary function and caries prevention.