Chapter 8 ABSTRACT Objective Sjögren’s syndromepatients usedifferent dry-mouth interventions for the relieve of their oral dryness. Recently, it was shown that patients with dry-mouth complaints have regional differences in perceived intra-oral dryness. Therefore, the aimof the present study was to investigate whether the use of dry-mouth interventions is related to the perceived regional oral dryness. Materials andmethods A cross-sectional study was performed with Sjögren’s patients. Volunteers could anonymouslyadminister variousquestionnaires, including theRegional Oral Dryness Inventory (RODI), Xerostomia Inventory (XI), Bother Index (BI) and a list of dry-mouth interventions. Results Sjögren’s syndromepatientsuseawidevariety for the relief of oral dryness. “Drinking water’’ and“moistening the lips’’ wereusedmost frequently. Dry-mouth interventions, “drinkingwater’’, “rinsingof themouth”, and “drinkingsmall volumes”wereassociated with the RODI scores of the posterior palate, and anterior and posterior tongue, respectively. On the other hand, “using mouth gel’’ had an significant association with the RODI scores of the inside cheeks. Conclusion Sjögren’s syndrome patients are more likely to use mouth gels when their inside cheekswere experiencedasmost dry, while they drankwater, rinsed theirmouthor drank small volumes if theposterior palate, andanterior andposterior tonguewere considered as dry. It can be concluded that intra-oral dryness affects dry-mouth perception and thereby also the use of the various dry-mouth interventions. Clinical relevance The therapeutic choice of dry-mouth interventions by Sjögren’s syndromepatients seems to some extent to be related to dryness at specific intra-oral regions. Keywords: Sjögren’s syndrome, Dry mouth, Xerostomia, Xerostomia Inventory, Bother Index, Dry-mouth interventions 162
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