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Background: Therapeutic strategies for xerostomia, regardless of etiology, have so far not had definitive or clearly
effective results. Objectives. To systematically revise the latest scientific evidence available regarding the treatment of dry mouth, regardless of the cause of the problem.
Material and Methods: The literature search was conducted in March 2015, using the Medline and Embase databases. The “Clinical Trial”, from 2006 to March 2015, was carried out in English and only on human cases. The
draft of the systematic review and assessment of the methodological quality of the trials was carried out following
the criteria of PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and the “Oxford
Quality Scale”.
Results: Finally, a total of 26 trials were identified that met the previously defined selection and quality criteria;
14 related to drug treatments for dry mouth, 10 with non-pharmacological treatment and 2 with alternative treatments.
Conclusions: Pilocarpine continues to be the best performing sialogogue drug for subjects with xerostomia due
to radiation on head and neck cancer or diseases such as Sjogren’s Syndrome. For patients with dry mouth caused
solely by medication, there are some positive indications from the use of malic acid, along with other elements
that counteract the harmful effect on dental enamel. In general, lubrication of oral mucous membrane reduces the
symptoms, although the effects are short-lived
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