114 Chapter 6 It is envisaged that these measurements could serve as a reference for future studies, e.g. on salivary film integrity related to various oral diseases. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the salivary film thickness and the MUC5B levels at various intra-oral locations in healthy volunteers. Furthermore, we included measurements of the palatal surface area to explore the possible relationships between the palatal surface area and the palatal salivary film thickness and MUC5B levels. We hypothesised that healthy individuals with comparable salivary flow rates, but differences in palatal surface area, will have a different distribution of the salivary film and/ or the MUC5B levels; individuals with a larger palatal surface area would have a thinner salivary film at the palate and also less availability of MUC5B. MATERIALS AND METHODS Participants The study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee at the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA; 202065). Volunteers were recruited at ACTA through posters. Eligibility criteria required volunteers to be 18 years or older, preferably without having the tendency to gag. Informed written consent was obtained from all volunteers. No personal data of volunteers were recorded, with the exception of age and sex. Volunteers using polypharmacy (more than four medications) or specific xerogenic medications were excluded for saliva collection. Xerogenity of the medications was determined using the medication guides published by Sreebny and Schwartz (1986), Wolff et al. (2016) and the Dutch Pharmacotherapeutic Compass [23–25]. The reporting of this study conforms to the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement [26]. Study variables Subjective oral dryness assessment The Xerostomia Inventory (XI) was used to measure the overall dry-mouth experience. The XI consists of 11 items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = “never” to 5 = “very often.” The items are about oral dryness and mouth feel. Participants indicate on each item how often they suffer from problems with regard to mouth feel and oral dryness. The scores of the 11 items are summed, resulting in a total XI score that ranges between 11 (no xerostomia) and 55 (extreme xerostomia) [27].
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