Dentists: Why Recommend Saliwell?

As a dentist, when a patient approaches you for help managing xerostomia, it’s important to be aware of all the available treatments. New research is constantly underway, and more often than not, xerostomia management involves a long-term, multimodal strategy that combines symptom management with practical lifestyle adjustments and preventive dental care. Staying on top of new developments and treatment options is crucial for providing your patients the best level of care.

Saliwell is at the cutting edge of xerostomia treatment, and offers two drug-free approaches for oral health management. SaliPen, our flagship product, uses gentle electrostimulation to encourage natural saliva production, while SaliVance provides non-electrical oral moisture support through gentle contact.

Depending on the severity of the patient’s xerostomia, their background and current medical conditions, Saliwell products can provide standalone management, or be part of a more comprehensive approach that includes medication and/or lifestyle adjustments.

But we don’t expect you to recommend Saliwell products without knowing what they’re all about. In this blog post, we discuss 5 major benefits of Saliwell products, so you can determine whether they are suitable for your patients.

Five Reasons to Recommend Saliwell Products

1. SaliPen: Backed by Clinical Evidence

   SaliPen delivers gentle electrical impulses to the oral cavity to stimulate natural saliva production; this approach has been backed by numerous clinical studies for the past 15 years.

   Here are some of standout trials:

   • A multicenter randomized trial evaluated an intraoral electrostimulation device developed by Dr. Andy Wolff, co-founder of Saliwell and one of the developers of SaliPen. The study included 114 patients with xerostomia associated with Sjögren’s syndrome and other sicca conditions. During the randomized stage, the active device performed significantly better than the sham device in several patient-reported measures, including xerostomia severity, xerostomia frequency, quality-of-life impairment and swallowing difficulty.
   • Another long-term multicenter study followed 94 patients using an earlier Saliwell intraoral electrostimulation device for 11 months. Improvements in xerostomia severity were sustained throughout follow-up, together with improvements in salivary flow, dryness frequency, oral discomfort, speech, swallowing and sleeping. No significant side effects were detected.
   • In 2023, a double-blind, randomized sham-controlled feasibility study evaluated a Saliwell-manufactured intraoral electrostimulation device in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome. At six months, results for the Xerostomia Inventory and unstimulated salivary flow favored active electrostimulation, with no adverse events reported. The researchers concluded that the results supported progression to a definitive Phase III randomized controlled trial.
   • An independent 2025 randomized controlled trial provided further evidence supporting the principle behind SaliPen. After 12 weeks, patients receiving electrical stimulation of the lingual nerve showed significantly greater improvements in xerostomia symptoms, unstimulated salivary flow, and oral-health-related quality of life than those receiving sham stimulation. Dry-mouth remission was reported in 61.9% of the electrostimulation group, compared with 28.6% of the sham group.
2. SaliVance: A Non-Electrical Option

   For patients who want or require a non-electrical approach, SaliVance provides oral moisture support through gentle contact beneath the tongue. Multiple studies support the approach of tactile touch as an effective component of a healthy oral environment.

   • The same multicenter randomized trial that supports electrostimulation also supports tactile touch; even subjects who used the sham device (which provided contact, but not electrostimulation) saw oral improvements, suggesting that the physical presence and contact of an intraoral appliance may also contribute to dry mouth relief.
   • In 2019, a clinical study involving 84 older adults examined a simple oral exercise program designed to improve salivation, swallowing and mastication. Unstimulated saliva and improvements in swallowing increased following the exercises, with notable improvements among participants who had poor salivation at baseline.
   • A 2020 study found significant improvements in salivary secretion and dry mouth symptoms following a structured oral exercise intervention that included tongue and salivary gland exercises.
   • The 2025 randomized controlled trial mentioned above also included a sham device that provided intraoral contact without electrical stimulation. Participants in the sham group showed improvement from baseline in xerostomia scores during the 12-week study, providing further support for mechanical intraoral placement devices.

   While these studies didn’t evaluate SaliVance itself, they provide clinical support for the physiological principles on which SaliVance is based.

3. Saliwell Devices Are Drug-Free

   Sialogogues, such as pilocarpine and cevimeline, are the most common dry mouth treatment, but they aren’t suitable for everyone. While they are often effective, they can also cause adverse side effects. And for patients already taking several medications, including those that induce xerostomia, adding another medication to the mix simply isn’t an option.

   SaliPen is drug-free, localized to the oral cavity, and uses gentle electrostimulation rather than systemic medication to stimulate the salivary reflex. Reported adverse reactions are rare and include oral discomfort and a mild pulsating sensation at the areas in contact with the electrodes.

4. Designed for Practical, Ongoing Use

   For xerostomia treatment to be effective, it needs to be sustainable. This means it needs to be easy enough to use in order for patients to include in their daily health regimen.

   SaliPen and SaliVance are compact, removable, one-size-fits-all devices. They don’t require a dental procedure or permanent placement, and treatment takes only a few minutes at a time. This makes them practical for patients to incorporate into an existing dry mouth routine at home or while away.

5. Ideal for Long-Term Use

   One of the more interesting findings from the clinical research is that electrostimulation doesn’t appear to be limited to a brief effect immediately after treatment; the more patients use it, the more effective it is.

   This makes SaliPen and SaliVance relevant to the reality of xerostomia management. For many patients, dry mouth is chronic. The causative medication cannot be discontinued, the systemic condition cannot be eliminated, or salivary dysfunction persists following treatment. A dry mouth treatment that can become part of a sustainable long-term routine has obvious advantages over approaches designed primarily for temporary relief.

Saliwell Products as Part of a Broader Dry Mouth Strategy

SaliPen and Saliwell don’t need to replace the other measures you already recommend for xerostomia; in fact, a multimodal approach to xerostomia treatment is often the most effective.

Complementary xerostomia treatment tactics, including medication and lifestyle adjustments, can be used in tandem with Saliwell products to increase patient comfort and treatment efficacy. And of course, good oral hygiene practices and regular dental checkups can help fight the negative effects xerostomia has on oral and dental health.