الفهرس 
Introduction.Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Changes in the oral cavity and other manifestations of poor oral health are common in patients with diabetes. These patients require special attention to dental treatment, not only due to the conditions inherent to the disease and its multiple oral manifestations but also because of the side effects and characteristics of the treatments they receive.
Xerostomia is one of the most typical oral symptoms of diabetic patients, which can result in a cascade of serious symptoms including the inability to speak or eat in front of others thus decreasing overall quality of life.
The inability to eat and swallow has a severe impact on their general health leading to malnourishment and worsening of their systemic condition therefore management of xerostomia is necessary.
Even though there are many different pharmaceutical formulations for treating xerostomia, there isn’t yet a truly effective cure that works both safely and permanently and most of these treatments are expensive Thus, using aloe vera and thyme honey mouthwashes proved to be effective in reducing symptoms and signs of xerostomia in diabetic patients.
Taking into consideration the value of the oral health condition in diabetic patients associated with xerostomia and believing that salivary stimulants or substitutes could potentially be used to manage this condition. This study aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of (50%) aloe vera versus (20%) thyme honey mouthwash on the management of xerostomia in diabetic patients by measuring the salivary flow rate as a primary objective and assess their effect on salivary nitric oxide and quality of life as secondary objectives.
The current study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. A total of 45 diabetic patients who suffered from xerostomia were recruited from the faculty of dentistry, Ain Shams University and distributed into three equal groups aloe vera group (n=15), thyme honey group (n=15) and saline group (n=15). All patients followed the same administration protocol for 4 weeks.
The treatment assessment of salivary flow rate, subjective dry mouth score, objective dry mouth score was carried out at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks after starting the treatment protocol, while the NO levels and quality of life questionnaire were measured at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment.
Regarding the unstimulated salivary flow rate, our current study found that the unstimulated salivary flow rates improved after 4 weeks for the intervention groups compared to the control group with the thyme honey group showing the best improvement (p<0.001). The unstimulated salivary flow rate of thyme honey at baseline was (0.07±0.05) (ml/min) after 4 weeks it became (0.25±0.16) (ml/min) while in aloe vera it was (0.05±0.04) (ml/min) and became (0.22±0.16) (ml/min).
While after 4 weeks there was a significant difference between different groups (p<0.001) in NO levels. The highest value was found in thyme honey which increased from (128.40±33.43) (µmol/L) to (96908.67±21115.55) (µmol/L), followed by aloe vera which increased from (101.60±47.68) (µmol/L) to (87821.33±34606.48) (µmol/L), while the lowest value was found at saline which increased from (97.47±49.76) (µmol/L) to (16396.47±4091.94) (µmol/L).