[For practical salivary flowmetry. A weighing technic]

No one method of salivary flowmetry has been found to be practical, reliable and fully significant. Consequently, the diagnosis of salivary gland failure remains uncertain and imprecise even though the diagnostic question is often raised. A simplified and effective weight measurement could be more widely used. Saliva is sampled easily with small compresses inserted into the sublingual groove and left in potion for 5 minutes without deglutition or mastication for a saliva collection and close as possible to the baseline level; then for 1 minute after mastication to collect stimulated secretion. The compresses are then weighted. The reliability of this method must be confirmed with a multicentric study.