A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.
Abstract
'acceptable results obtained with most of the treatments, (but) none is free of undesirable effects'.
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Scully C, Limeres J et al. J Oral Pathol Med 2009; 38: 321–327
Drooling 'is not usually associated with an increased production of saliva' but with some form of neurological disturbance. It has been reported that this condition occurs in as high as 50% of those with cerebral palsy and a similar proportion of patients with Parkinson's disease. Drooling is not only socially disturbing, but saliva soils anything and everything. In addition, the individual can suffer from perioral maceration and infections. Treatment can range from biofeedback and 'anti-drooling classes' to pharmacological approaches that reduce cholinergic activity or increasing adrenergic activity with, for example, clonidine patches. Percutaneous injection of botulinum toxin into the salivary glands has some short term benefit. Submandibular duct relocation to the back of the mouth is considered the surgical gold standard. Nevertheless, saliva is 'still present on the chins of up to 70% of those cases deemed by the surgeon to be successful'.
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Drooling. Br Dent J 206, 583 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.487
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.487