Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand Vol 92, No 9:SEPTEMBER 2009 0125-2208 92 9 2009 Sep Xerostomia, Hyposalivation, and Oral Microbiota in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Preliminary Study 1220 EN Siribang-on Piboonniyom Tongchat Suwantuntula Soisiri Thaweboon Somsak Mitrirattanakul Umawadee Chomkhakhai Weerapan Khovidhunkit Original Article Mouth dryness is one of the major problems that can lead to several oral diseasessuch as dental caries, periodontitis and oral infection. Mouth dryness has also been associated with type 2diabetes mellitus (DM). The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of xerostomia(feeling of mouth dryness), hyposalivation (the reduction of saliva), and oral microbiota in Thai patients withtype 2 DM. The prevalence of xerostomia was 62% in patients with type 2 DM compared with 36% in the nondiabeticcontrol group (p = 0.001). The prevalence of hyposalivation (defined as MST values < 25 mm at 3min) was 46% in the patient group, whereas only 28% of the control group had hyposalivation (p = 0.03).Patients with hyposalivation had significantly higher numbers of mutans streptococci, Lactobacillus spp., andCandida spp. in the saliva compared with those without hyposalivation. These results suggested that xerostomia and hyposalivation were prevalent in patients with type2 DM and were associated with higher numbers of oral pathogens in the saliva. Xerostomia Hyposalivation Type 2 diabetes mellitus Modified Schirmer test Mutans streptococci Streptococcus mutans Lactobacilli Lactobacillus Candida