Aspects of Mouth Dryness

The purpose of this study is to exam that a boundary range of mouth dryness symptom objectively divided into dry mouth or not. Eighty-six volunteer over 60 years old participated. Questionnaire for dryness and medication were asked. Dentists performed clinical opticular diagnosis. Wet on tongue and moisture of mucous membrane were examined respectively with Saliva Wet Tester and Moisture Checker. The ratio divided into dryness in the subjective symptom, the clinical diagnosis, Saliva Wet Tester, and Moisture Checker was 19.7%, 4.03%, 34.9%, and 68.6% respectively, and the ratio of normal was 65.8%, 57.0%, 24.4%, and 17.4%. A correct classification rate was 77.9% by the discriminal analysis using clinical diagnosis as criterion variable and the score of Saliva Wet Tester and of Moisture Checker as explanatory variable. Distribution of discriminal score suggested that other factor should be joined them for classification in a boundary range.