The Efficacy of Iranian Made Saliva Substitute vs. VA-OraLube in Improvement of Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life in Radiotherapy-Induced Xerostomia

Xerostomia is a common complication of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer which can increase the risk of oral and dental disease and negatively affect patient's quality of life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of Iranian Made Saliva Substitute vs. VA-OraLube in improvement of Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life. This study was a randomized double-blinded, crossover clinical trial. 27 patients(49.1±14.7 years) with post-radiotherapy xerostomia were randomly allocated to receive either Iranian Made Saliva Substitute or VA-OraLube, or vice versa, each product for 1 week, with a 10 day wash-out period in between. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Questionnaire Head and Neck Cancer Module (EORTC-QLQ-H&N35) was completed by patients at days 1,8,18 and 25. To compare the groups the repeated measurement analysis of variance test was used then comparison of paired was performed by t-paired test. Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life score has been changed almost the same degree by both VA-OraLube and Iranian made saliva substitute and both treatments were effective. But none of them affected pain relief. A trend was seen for VA-OraLube to improve senses. With regard to significant improvement in Standard score in different group of questionnaire after using saliva substitute, both saliva substitutes were effective in alleviating the symptoms of xerostomia and helping patients to have better life.