Abstract
A clinical oral dryness score (CODS) for clinical signs has been developed and has been found to be reliable and easy to use for routine assessment of the severity of dry mouth (hyposalivation). CODS is closely related to both the unstimulated salivary flow and the thickness of the mucin layer over the epithelium (mucosal wetness) suggesting a physiological basis to the feeling of xerostomia. CODS can be incorporated into the routine clinical assessment of dry mouth patients, particularly since the clinician would normally be undertaking most aspects of the clinical assessment routinely. In general practice, a low COD score (1–3) indicates mild dryness manageable normally in practice, whereas a high CODS (7–10) is an indication for referral for further investigation. A simple index for symptoms of xerostomia (bother index) has also been developed and correlates well with CODS and more objective measures of hyposalivation. This strongly suggests that both types of assessment can be useful in the assessment of the dry mouth patient.
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Challacombe, S.J., Osailan, S.M., Proctor, G.B. (2015). Clinical Scoring Scales for Assessment of Dry Mouth. In: Carpenter, G. (eds) Dry Mouth. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55154-3_8
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