Salivary substitutes in prosthodontics

Saliva constitutes an important role in maintaining the health of the oral cavity. It helps in lubrication, mastication, and has effective antimicrobial action. In prosthodontics, saliva plays a main role in retention of the denture. Hyposalivation is a main complication in diabetes, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, sjogren syndrome, certain systemic conditions and patients with maxillofacial defects. Pharmacotherapy is the initial management to increase the salivary flow. Cholinergic drugs are administrated systemically to increase the salivary flow. However, in extreme cases salivary substitutes are used to maintain and increase the salivary flow. This article is about the role of salivary substitutes to modulate salivary flow to enhance prosthodontic success.