Salivary gland disorders are uncomfortable conditions of the salivary glands. These glands are responsible for keeping your mouth moist, which can help to stop teeth from decaying, to help stave off bad breath and more. In this article, we will talk about salivary gland disorders including obstructive salivary gland disorders.
What Is a Obstructive Salivary Gland Disorder?
Salivary glands, as mentioned, are what are responsible for producing your saliva, more commonly called “spit.” Saliva serves a number of different functions that you might not otherwise realize. Saliva helps:
- Reduce bacteria that is the cause of bad breath
- Move minerals to the teeth
- Keep your mouth moist
- Stave off rapid decay of the teeth
- With digestion of food
The salivary glands in your mouth are fairly small. They can be found in the inner linings of your cheeks, lips and generally in your mouth. There are a number of different diseases that can harm these salivary glands. The diseases can be anything from Sjorgen’s syndrome to cancerous and precancerous tumors alike. Some of these diseases can go away with time or with the help of antibiotics. That said, some of them need surgery and other serious treatments.
What Causes Salivary Gland Disorders?
There are three different salivary glands that are paired together in your mouth. These are called the:
- Sublingual glands
- Parotid glands
- Submandibular glands
These are the glands that are responsible for producing saliva. The most common causes of these gland issues come from the blockage of these glands. They can cause symptoms that are painful.
Sialolithiasis and sialadenitis are two different gland disorders. The former occurs when there are calcium-based stones that form in the glands. These stones block these glands causing obstructive salivary gland disorders. These can partially stop or completely stop your saliva flow.
The latter of these disorders is an infection that takes over a salivary gland. This often comes from stones that block the gland in question; strep or staph bacteria usually cause such an infection. Infants and older people are usually most susceptible to getting this disorder.
Another common disorder of the salivary glands includes Sjorgen’s Syndrome. This happens when your white blood cells target the healthy parts of your salivary glands. It can also happen to oil glands and sweat glands. This condition is more common for women that experience autoimmune disorders including lupus.
Viruses can also harm the salivary glands. These include:
- Coxsackie virus
- Echovirus
- Flu virus
- Mumps
- Cytomegalovirus
Noncancerous and cancerous tumors can form in these glands, but the cancerous types are rare. If they do happen, they will usually happen between the ages of 50 and 60 years of age. Noncancerous tumors are more common. They can affect all of the different salivary glands in your mouth.
What Are the Symptoms of a Salivary Gland Disorder?
There are several symptoms that you might experience in the event of a salivary gland disorder. The symptoms of different disorders can be found below:
The symptoms of Sialolithiasis
- Pain that gets worse when you are salivating during a meal
- Painful lump found under the tongue
The symptoms of Sialadenitis
- Fever
- Strong or foul-smelling pus
- Pus which can drain into your mouth
- Lump in your cheek or under your chin
The symptoms of a viral infection of the salivary glands
- Joint pain
- Swelling on both sides of the face
- Fever
- Muscle aches
- Headache
The symptoms of salivary gland cysts
- Yellow mucus that bursts and drains from the cyst
- Issues speaking
- Difficulty swallowing
- Problems eating
The symptoms of Sjogren’s Syndrome
- Sores in the mouth
- Dry cough
- Unexplained fatigue
- Joint pain or swelling
- Dry mouth
- Dry eyes
- Tooth decay
- Swollen salivary glands
- Frequent salivary gland infections
Those people who have alcoholism or diabetes may also experience swelling of their salivary glands.
How Are Obstructive Salivary Gland Disorders Diagnosed?
Trying to diagnose possible salivary gland disorders will start with some testing ordered by your doctor. They will look at your medical history and give you a physical exam. Because these cases can be obviously made by the physical and the history of your health, so diagnotistic tests might not be something that needs to happen.
Your doctor will likely want to see the swelling and blockage in order to diagnose your obstructed salivary gland disorder. This might mean taking an x-ray of the dental area to see the precise location of the obstruction. They will then likely check your neck and head, and a surgeon may be able to numb the location to free the blockage.
In the event that your doctor needs to target a salivary gland specifically, they might use a CT scan or an MRI to obtain a more in-depth look at what they’re dealing with. A biopsy to take out the Salivary Gland tissue can also help them diagnose the issue.
How Are Obstructive Salivary Gland Disorders Treated?
The treatment needed for a salivary gland disorder will depend on what kind of disease or obstruction you have. It will also depend on what stage it has advanced to.
If you have a mass in your salivary gland, for instance, your doctor might recommend that you have surgery to remove it. If the mass is deemed cancerous, you might have to get it treated with radiation. These treatments won’t usually start until your body has healed for around six weeks following your surgery.
If it is determined that it is not cancerous, then radiation might not be needed to treat the mass. It is often going to be treated conservatively if it is not cancer; this means minimally invasive procedures that can have you feeling better in no time. If it is a bacterial infection, you will likely get antibacterial treatments.
Conclusion
In this article, we have detailed information about obstructive salivary gland disorders among others. Have you ever had one of these disorders? Did you need treatment? What was it like? Tell us all about it in the comments section that can be found below this article.
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