Effect of Sialagogues on the Periodontal Status in Sjogren's Patients

Sjögren's syndrome causes severe salivary hypofunction which increases oral diseases and patient morbidity. In a previous study we have shown that patients taking sialagogues had improved significantly in stimulated salivary flow rates and dental caries compared to those not taking sialagogues over a 4 year period.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sialagogues on number of sites with pocket depth greater than 4mm (a marker for periodontal disease) and bleeding on probing (a marker for inflammation) in patients that were previously diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome.

Methods: The study included 74 women with Sjögren's syndrome, 44 were on sialagogues and 30 were not. The subjects were non-smokers and with a mean age of 57 years (range 17-85). All 74 patients had been previously diagnosed with Sjögren's disease and had been coming to the oral medicine clinic every 3 months for oral evaluation and were on a preventive maintenance regimen. At the data collection visit number of sites with pocket depth greater than 4mm and bleeding on probing (BOP) were recorded on six surfaces of all teeth by periodontal calibrated examiner. Number of sites with pocket depth greater than 4mm and BOP were analyzed using Mann Whitney U-test.

Results: For patients treated with sialagogues the mean (SE) number of sites with pocket depth greater than 4mm was .93 (0.31) vs. 6.17 (1.80) for patients not treated with Sialagogues (p=0.039). For patients treated with sialagogues the mean (SE) number of BOP sites was 18.4 (2.2) vs. 45.7 (6.04) for patients not treated with sialagogues (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Treatment with sialagogues provides a beneficial effect on the outcomes of periodontal health of Sjögren's patients as seen by the significant decrease in inflammation and the number of sites with pocket depths greater than 4mm.

(Supported by NIDCR Grant DE14368)