Özet:

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of anxiety, depression and stress with salivary flow and subjective oral dryness.  Methods: Four groups were formed. First group consisted of patients with unstimulated salivary flow <0,1 ml/min and subjective oral dryness; second group consisted of the patients with unstimulated salivary flow >0,1 ml/min and subjective oral dryness; and third group consisted of the patients with no subjective oral dryness and unstimulated salivary flow <0,1 ml/min. These three groups were independently compared with the control group which consisted of the patients with unstimulated salivary flow >0,1 ml/min and no subjective oral dryness. All diagnosed diseases and medication use were recorded for all participants. After saliva sample collection, depression, state-trait anxiety, and general perceived stress were evaluated. Hyposalivation was defined as an unstimulated salivary flow rate <0,1 mL/min The question “Does your mouth usually feel dry?” was used as an indicator of subjective oral dryness. Results: It was seen that internal consistency reliability of all tests used in the study were over 0.70. Statistical differences were observed in the scores of depression (F:10,27 p=0,0001), anxiety (F:3,79 p=0,013, F:3,90 p=0,011) and stress scales (F:3.88 p=0,012) of the groups. Depression score of Group 1 was significantly higher than that of Group 4 (p = 0.0001). Depression score of Group 2 was significantly higher than that of Group 4 (p=0,001) . Conclusion: In our study, depression, anxiety and stress were found to play important roles in decreasing salivary flow rate and increasing subjective oral dryness.

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