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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Objective and non-invasive evaluation of dry mouth
Shin-ichi Ishimoto1, Kouichi Tsunoda, Youko Fujimaki
1Department of Otolaryngology, Social Insurance Central General Hospital, 3-22-1 Hyakuninn-cho, Shinnjyuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan. shinchan-tky@umin.ac.jp
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).
Conclusion:
The MucusIII is a device for objective evaluation of the moisture of the oral cavity.
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