212 Chapter 10 Another important aspect of dry-mouth interventions is the frequent discontinuation of the use of saliva substitutes by patients after a short period of time, mainly due to an unpleasant taste and sticky consistency. This problem is very essential and impactful in SS patients [12, 13]. In this light, investigating the preferences of dry-mouth patients before developing saliva substitutes is crucial and this information could improve the quality and efficacy of dry-mouth inventions. The present thesis only describes the preferences of SS patients (Chapter 9). Further investigating the preferences of other drymouth patient groups is also important. Especially so far the preferences of patients suffering from oral dryness due to the use of xerogenic medications or polypharmacy, as they comprise by far the largest number of patients suffering from a dry mouth. As mentioned above, the RODI can be helpful in informing the selection of appropriate dry-mouth interventions, but it remains essential that future studies evaluate the efficacy of upcoming new dry-mouth interventions. Investigating the perceived overall mouth dryness before and after the use of a new intervention is very common in clinical studies. The added value of measuring the intra-oral dryness before, during and after the use of a specific dry mouth intervention is that it can provide detailed information about the effect on a specific intra-oral region. Current diagnostic tools may fail to detect a local improvement in oral dryness, as they focus on the overall mouth dryness. However, some interventions may not have a huge impact on the overall mouth dryness, but could possibly improve dryness at specific intra-oral locations, such as the palate or the tongue. Thus, the RODI questionnaire can have added value in evaluating the efficacy of new dry-mouth interventions in combination with measuring the overall dry mouth and objective measurement of the saliva secretion rate. It is also important to note that suggested new interventions may lack any beneficial effect on dry mouth in well-designed studies, but, even then, it remains important that clinicians and patients are informed about the findings. Summarizing future plans and perspectives This thesis presented that the RODI questionnaire could be helpful in various aspects of dry-mouth screening and therapy, especially in combination with the XI. To broaden its scope, it is envisaged that the RODI questionnaire should be validated in other languages. The RODI could be used to help with the screening of medication induced dry-mouth patients; it could be possible to investigate the relationship
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