“A NOVEL APPROACH TO MANAGE DRUG ASSOCIATED XEROSTOMIA IN GERIATRIC EDENTULOUS PATIENTS UTILIZING SALIVARY RESERVOIR IN COMPLETE DENTURE PROSTHESIS”

Khurshid Mattoo*, Anchal Brar, Pulkit Jain

ABSTRACT

Statement of the problem: xerostomia is a common adverse effect of
drugs consumed by elderly people. Most of the patients in the geriatric
age require some form of denture prosthesis. Prosthesis requires saliva
for smooth and normal function in oral cavity. Aims and objectives:
To utilize the dentures as a vehicle to manage drug associated
xerostomia. To find the effect of such modified dentures on patient
satisfaction and to determine whether such modification would be effective on the maxillary
denture or the mandibular denture. Materials and methods: Thirty completely edentulous
patients seeking complete denture prosthesis having drug associated Xerostomia were divided
into two groups namely Group U and Group P. All the subjects received two different
complete dentures over a period of 6 months. The first set of dentures was unmodified
(Group U) and the second set of dentures was modified to hold artificial saliva in either the
maxillary or the mandibular denture (Group P). At the end of 6 months after wearing two sets
of dentures each for 3 months, they were given a questionnaire that determined patient’s
satisfaction which was later scored on a 5 point unipolar scale. Mean percentage was
evaluated for each score. Results: Patients who received modified complete dentures were
satisfied in the range of extremely satisfied (80%) for maxillary modification and (53%) for
mandibular modification. The levels of satisfaction ranged from extremely satisfied to moderately satisfied when compared with the conventional unmodified dentures.
Conclusion: Salivary reservoir can be an effective method for delivering artificial saliva in
geriatric patients having drug associated xerostomia. Maxillary modification is more effective
than mandibular modification.

Keywords: anti-hypertensive, complete denture, artificial saliva, sustained release, denture retention.