Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons^™

Saliva Production And Enjoyment Of Real-Food Flavors In People With And Without Dysphagia And/Or Xerostomia, Angela M. Dietsch, Cathy A. Pelletier, Nancy Pearl Solomon

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Non-food gustatory stimulation has multiple potential therapeutic benefits for people with dysphagia and xerostomia. This study examined palatability and saliva flow associated with dissolvable flavored films. Taste strips with real-food flavors dissolved on the tongues of 21 persons with dysphagia and/or xerostomia and 21 healthy age- and sex-matched adults while sublingual gauze pads absorbed saliva over randomized 3-min trials. Participants rated taste enjoyment for each trial on a hedonic general labeled magnitude scale. Flavored strips elicited more saliva than baseline for both groups, and production was higher for controls than patients (M = 2.386 and 1.091 g, respectively; p = …