Background: The authors conducted a literature review to assess whether there is a reduction of salivation with the use of antisialogogues, whether the use of antisialogogues reduces the chair time needed for dental procedures and whether the use of antisialogogues reduces bond failure in orthodontics.
Methods: The authors conducted a search for original articles published from 1950 to April 2010 by using the following databases: Cochrane Collaboration, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE and ISI Web of Knowledge. They included in their review only human studies in which antisialogogues were used. They validated methodological quality and evidence grade.
Results: Twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-five of these studies were related to the effect of antisialogogues on salivation, and one study to bond failure. The authors found that there is evidence that antisialogogues work, inconclusive evidence that they reduce bond failure, and no evidence that they reduce chair time for dental procedures.
Clinical implications: Taking into account the systemic effects of antisialogogues, which exceed the time needed for bracket bonding, the use of antisialogogues for dental procedures in general is questionable.