Guidelines for Complications of Cancer Treatment Vol VIII Part B

XerostomiaXerostomia is present in 22-26% of the general population.All patients who undergo radiotherapy to the head and neckregion have some degree of xerostomia. It can be exacerbatedby the use of concomitant or sequential chemotherapy andother drugsPhysiology of saliva production: The major salivary glands are well-defined structures:parotid, submandibular and sublingual salivary glands.In contrast the minor salivary glands may vary in numberand position from patient to patient and are distributedthroughout the oral cavity and pharynx. The major salivary glands produce 90% of the saliva,upto 1000 – 1500 ml in a healthy individual, whole day,with 60 – 65% being produced by the parotids, 20-30%by the submandibular and 2-5% by the sublingualsalivary glands. The saliva from the parotid glands is predominantlyserous, while that from the submandibular and sublingualsalivary glands is mixed serous and mucinous. The minorsalivary glands contain predominantly mucinous acini.In addition saliva also contains inorganic ions, lipids,166