The causes of dysgeusia include zinc deficiency, systemic illness, and drugs. Oral cavity diseases such as oral candidiasis and xerostomia, may present risk factors that are yet to be reported. This study investigated the relationship between saliva volume and taste function in patients with dysgeusia. A taste test was performed on 335 participants who complained of taste abnormalities. The recognition thresholds of 1 and 2 were defined as healthy and that of 3 or more was defined as dysgeusia.

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... Participants were divided into dysgeusia and healthy groups and their clinical items, including resting saliva volume (RSV) and stimulated saliva volume (SSV) were compared. A multivariate logistic regression analysis focusing on RSV was performed. The participants with dysgeusia had a lower RSV than the healthy participants for all tastes, but not for SSV. Bases on the regression analysis, RSV was an independent predictor of dysgeusia for salty and bitter taste. The proportion of patients with decreased RSV increased as the number of taste qualities exceeding the reference recognition threshold increased. A decrease in RSV was associated with the increased recognition threshold for salty and bitter tastes. From this result, moisturizing the oral cavity may be useful for the treatment of dysgeusia.