Assessing the effectiveness of salivary gland massage on oral dryness and its impact on oral frailty and OHRQoL – A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This  parallel randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of daily salivary gland massage in mitigating oral dryness and its subsequent impact on oral frailty and oral health-related quality of life among institutionalized elderly individuals. The study addresses the high prevalence of xerostomia in the geriatric population, which contributes to functional decline and nutritional issues, by proposing a low-cost, non-pharmacological intervention. the research will involve aged 60 and above institutionalized individuals  who have self-reported oral dryness. These participants will be randomly allocated into two groups: an intervention group performing daily salivary gland massage alongside oral hygiene instructions, and a control group receiving only oral hygiene instructions. Over a one-month duration, the study will track the primary outcome of salivary flow rate using the Oral Schirmer’s test, alongside secondary outcomes including  oral frailty (OFI-8), and oral health related quality of life (GOHAI), with data collected at baseline, 15 days, and 30 days.