Dry Mouth (Xerostomia): Or something else? Differential Diagnosis

Respiratory System (J00-J99)

  • Nasal turbinate hyperplasia – benign enlargement of the turbinates (usually affecting the inferior turbinates) → nasal airway obstruction.
  • Nasal septum deviation (nasal septum curvature) → nasal breathing obstruction.

Blood, blood-forming organs – immune system (D50-D90).

  • Heerfordt syndrome – chronic inflammation of the parotid (parotid gland) and lacrimal gland. It may be associated with involvement of the iris and ciliary body of the eye (iridocyclitis), cranial nerves, female breast, or gonads; occurs especially in association with sarcoidosis (synonyms: Boeck’s disease; Schaumann-Besnier’s disease; systemic disease of connective tissue (skin, lungs and lymph nodes) with granuloma formation) of the salivary glands.
  • Sarcoidosis – granulomatous inflammation; it is considered an inflammatory multisystem disease, the cause of which is still unclear.

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).

  • Amyloidosis – extracellular (“outside the cell”) deposits of amyloids (degradation-resistant proteins) that can lead to cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), neuropathy (peripheral nervous system disease), and hepatomegaly (liver enlargement), among other conditions
  • Diabetes insipidus – congenital or acquired disease characterized by increased urine output (polyuria) and an increased feeling of thirst with polydipsia (increased drinking).
  • Cystic Fibrosis (ZF) – genetic disease with autosomal recessive inheritance, characterized by the production of secretions in various organs to be tamed.
  • Diabetes mellitus – due toosmotic diuresis (increased urine production) due to glucosuria (excretion of glucose through the urine).

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Hepatitis C
  • HIV (AIDS)

Mouth, esophagus (food pipe), stomach, and intestines (K00-K67; K90-K93).

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).

  • Sjögren’s syndrome (group of sicca syndromes) – autoimmune disease from the group of collagenoses, resulting in a chronic inflammatory disease of the exocrine glands, most commonly the salivary and lacrimal glands; typical sequelae or complications of sicca syndrome are:
    • Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye syndrome) due to lack of wetting of the cornea and conjunctiva with tear fluid.
    • Increased susceptibility to caries due to xerostomia (dry mouth) due to reduced salivary secretion.
    • Rhinitis sicca (dry nasal mucous membranes), hoarseness and chronic cough irritation and impaired sexual function due to disruption of mucous gland production of the respiratory tract and genital organs.

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).

  • Tumors of the salivary glands

Nervous system (G00-G99)

  • Lambert-Eaton mysthenia syndrome – rare neurological disorder whose characteristic feature is proximally emphasized muscle weakness.

Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not elsewhere classified (R00-R99).

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract-genital organs) (N00-N99).

  • Diabetes salinus renalis – with polyuria (exceeding the age-standard physiological amount of urine to more than 1,500 ml/m2 body surface area daily) due to salt and water reabsorption disorders in chronic nephropathies (kidney diseases).

Radiotherapy

Further

  • Biographical causes
    • Age – The symptom occurs predominantly in older age because older people often have to take medications that can lead to dry mouth. Furthermore, they drink less due to the decreasing feeling of thirst and saliva production decreases due to age.
  • Behavioral causes
  • Dehydration (lack of water; dehydration).
  • Dehydration in the dying phase (palliative care]
  • Air dryness

Medication

Environmental pollution – intoxications (poisonings).

  • Air dryness