What are the causes of hyposalivation?
Dehydration this is perhaps one of the most common causes of Hyposalivation. Dehydration occurs when the fluids in the body become too low for normal functioning of the body. This also results in reduction in the production of saliva causing Hyposalivation.The most common symptom of Hyposalivation is dry mouth, although there are many other symptoms that may also be associated with Hyposalivation. Hyposalivation (predisposes to caries, candidosis and bacterial acute ascending sialadenitis and Changes may be:quantitative (dry mouth or hyposalivation), qualitative (pH falls; buffering capacity decreases; electrolytes change). Factors predisposing to salivary changes include: radiation, dose, fraction
size and number of exposures, type, salivary gland, function before RT, volume irradiated. Hyposalivation can be reduced by: minimizing doses and field of radiation, using parotid-sparing techniques such as IMRT (Intensity Modulated RT),
using amifostine or pilocarpine before therapy, avoiding chemoradiotherapy, in hyposalivation there may be:difficulty in swallowing especially in eating dry foods, such as biscuits (the cracker sign), difficulty in controlling dentures, difficulty in speaking, as the tongue tends to stick to the palate; this can lead to ‘clicking’ speech, mouth soreness, unpleasant taste or change in or loss of sense of taste, a dry mucosa , the lips adhere one .