Utility of two methodologies in the clinical assessment of oral dryness in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the oral dryness in postmenopausal women and to correlate the salivary flow rate determined by sialometry with the clinical oral dryness score (CODS) obtained from Challacombe Scale. To correlate between subjective and objective oral dryness and relationship of salivary flow rate with that of the duration of menopause. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty postmenopausal women were questioned regarding their oral dryness status and the duration of menopause. Patients complaining of xerostomia formed the case group and rest formed the control group. CODS was assessed based on the 10 features of oral dryness. Unstimulated whole salivary (UWS) flow rate was assessed by sialometry for 5 min. RESULTS: Highly significant negative correlation was observed between UWS and CODS (r = -0.651), low negative correlation was noted between the duration of menopause and UWS flow rates (r = -0.159), and no significant correlation was found between subjective oral dryness with that of UWS flow rates (P = 0.0964). There was no statistically significant difference between case and control group with regard to CODS (P = 0.525). CONCLUSION: A good correlation of CODS with sialometry scores indicates that CODS can be utilized for semiquantitative assessment of oral dryness. It appears that UWS has poor correlation with duration of menopause. Xerostomia and UWS were not significantly related.

Prevalence of oral and systemic manifestations in pediatric HIV cohorts with and without drug therapy.

The prevalence of orofacial and systemic manifestations and their association with drug therapy in pediatric HIV patients is scarce in the literature. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of oro-facial and systemic manifestations in HIV sero-positive children with and without highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The study population consisted of 100 pediatric HIV patients (n=47 on HAART and n=53 not on HAART). The majority of the children (n=56) had at least one or more oro-facial manifestation associated with HIV. Oral candidiasis was the most common oral finding present in the HAART (14/33) and non-HAART groups (19/33). Recurrent aphthous ulcers was the only significant oral finding, present more in the HAART group. The percentage of children with upper respiratory tract infection was also more in the HAART group. The other lesions which were found to be significant were seborrheic dermatitis, pulmonary tuberculosis and otitis media. There was no significant difference in the participants' oral findings based on CD4 counts in the HAART and non- HAART groups. The prevalence of oral and systemic manifestations is a persistent feature associated with pediatric HIV, though of moderate intensity in those using HAART and may vary according to individual immune status.