Local Pilocarpine for Relieving Dry Mouth
Local Pilocarpine for Relieving Dry Mouth
The investigators intended for this study to deliver the "proof-of-concept" that locally
 administered pilocarpine drops in two doses are effective in a population of elderly (aged ≥
 70 years) with xerostomia at the expense of limited adverse events. To this end, the study
 aims to quantify the effect size of pilocarpine in two different dosages. In case the
 investigators observe clinically meaningful changes in xerostomia through measured NRS, a
 sufficiently-powered RCT will be prepared to compare pilocarpine to placebo.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  ≥ 70 years of age

 -  Clinical diagnosis of chronic dry mouth defined as a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score
 ≥ 5 (scale 0 - 10, with 0 = no dry mouth and 10= worst possible dry mouth) on severity
 of xerostomia for more than 3 months.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Existence of cognitive impairment and/or diagnosis of dementia appraised by treating
 physician

 -  Inability to fill out the questionnaires due to other reasons

 -  Prior radiation therapy of the head-and-neck region

 -  Known m. Sjögren disease

 -  Contra-indications for parasympathicomimetics (uncontrolled asthma, acute heart
 failure, active peptic ulceration, known hypersensitivity to pilocarpine, and when
 miosis is undesirable, e.g., in acute iritis and in narrow-angle (angle closure)
 glaucoma.