Regional differences in perceived oral dryness as determined with a newly developed questionnaire, the Regional Oral Dryness Inventory

Objectives Several questionnaires, such as the internationally validated and frequently used Xerostomia Inventory (XI), have been developed to quantify the subjective feeling of a dry mouth. These questionnaires quantify the overall perception of dry mouth but lack the possibility to differentiate between various intra-oral regions. In this light, a novel questionnaire, the Regional Oral Dryness Inventory (RODI), which quantifies the severity of dryness at various locations in the mouth, was evaluated. Materials and methods A retrospective case report study was designed. Data were collected from patients who visited the saliva clinic for Special Care Dentistry in Amsterdam. Data, including the saliva secretion rates, RODI scores, the Xerostomia Inventory (XI) score, and Clinical Oral Dryness Score (CODS), were extracted from the electronic health record system Oase Dental. Results A total of 337 patients participated in this study with an average age of 54 ± 17 years. The majority of the patients were female (68.5%). The perceived dryness as determined by the RODI was the highest for the posterior palate and the lowest for the floor of the mouth. The highest correlations were found between the corresponding regions in the RODI and regionally related individual items of the XI and CODS. Conclusion There is a significant difference in dry-mouth feeling at different intra-oral locations. Clinical relevance Regional evaluation of xerostomia with RODI might improve diagnosis of xerostomia by helping to discriminate between different potential causes of oral dryness in patients and for evaluating the efficacy of mouth-moistening products. RODI is highly accessible and easy to perform in dental practices during routine clinical assessment.