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Artificial Salivas: Why Are They Not More Useful?

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Dry Mouth

Abstract

The potential market for artificial salivas is huge, yet the actual usage is relatively low. One reason may be the lack of effectiveness of current brands. At best they only mimic the viscous nature of saliva but not the other physical properties, such as elasticity. This leads to a poor retention of the product in the mouth which then requires frequent application to provide any kind of relief. Since most dry mouth sufferers have some residual secretory activity, it makes sense to formulate artificial salivas to supplement any pre-existing saliva. Due to their very low surface tension, artificial salivas may displace the pre-existing saliva. This chapter explores the components of some leading brands, examines their physical properties – both neat and when mixed with saliva – and suggests some potential future directions for new product development.

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Acknowledgements

The data shown in this chapter was produced by Amandeep Bains as part of a summer project during her BDS programme. The author is very grateful for her helpful comments in preparing this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Salivary Research, King’s College London Dental Institute, Floor 17, Tower wing, London, SE1 9RT, UK

    Guy Carpenter

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  1. Guy Carpenter
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Correspondence to Guy Carpenter .

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  1. Department of Salivary Research, Kings College London Dental Institute, London, United Kingdom

    Guy Carpenter

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Carpenter, G. (2015). Artificial Salivas: Why Are They Not More Useful?. In: Carpenter, G. (eds) Dry Mouth. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55154-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55154-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-55153-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-55154-3

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