Effects of tobacco and diuretics on human palatal salivary glands

The prevalence of macrophotographically documented sialadenitis in the palatal mucosa of 184 probands, aged 23 yr or older, was studied in the Koster Health project. A total of 75 (mean age 58.9) revealed inflammatory changes around the duct orifices of the palatal glands. In 10, biopsies were performed for histomorphologic analyses to confirm the diagnosis of sialadenitis. Statistics with matched pairs showed a significantly higher ratio of tobacco use among individuals with sialadenitis than among those with clinically unchanged palatal gland orifices. A relationship between the use of diuretics and sialadenitis was also statistically significant. It can be concluded that tobacco use and diuretics may induce inflammatory changes in the palatal glands and that macrophotography of the palatal mucosa may serve as a valuable, non-invasive method for scoring sialadenitis.