Salivary Gland Scan

A salivary gland scan uses a special camera and a tracer (radioactive chemical) to take pictures of the salivary glands . This can help your doctor find the cause of dry mouth (xerostomia) or swelling in the salivary glands.

During a salivary gland scan, the tracer liquid is put into a vein (IV) in your arm. The tracer moves through your blood and into the salivary glands. A special camera takes pictures to show how much tracer stays in the salivary glands.

Why It Is Done

A salivary gland scan is done to:

Find the cause of swelling in the major salivary glands. Swelling may be caused by an infection (abscess), inflammation, or a pocket of fluid (cyst).
See if a growth in the parotid gland is a benign Warthin's tumor or may be cancer.
Find the cause of dry mouth (xerostomia). Several problems can cause dry mouth, such as a blocked salivary duct, a growth in a salivary gland, or Sjögren's syndrome.

How To Prepare

Before the salivary gland scan, tell your health professional if you:

Are or might be pregnant.
Are breast-feeding. You will need to use formula for 1 to 2 days after the scan so you won't pass the tracer to your baby. You should throw out any breast milk you collect during this time.
Have had other nuclear scans recently. If so, the salivary gland scan may need to be delayed.

Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have regarding the need for the test, its risks, how it will be done, or what the results may mean. To help you understand the importance of this test, fill out the medical test information form(What is a PDF document?).

How It Is Done

A salivary gland scan is usually done by a nuclear medicine technologist. The pictures are usually interpreted by a radiologist or nuclear medicine specialist.

Take off any jewelry that may get in the way of the scan.

During a salivary gland scan, you will sit with the camera placed at your neck. A small amount of the tracer is put in your vein (IV).

The camera will scan for radiation released by the tracer. The pictures are taken every few minutes during the scan. You need to stay very still during the scan so the pictures are not blurry.

You may be asked to suck on a lemon after the first pictures are taken. This causes your salivary glands to release more saliva. Then more pictures are taken.

A salivary gland scan takes about 1 hour.

How It Feels

You may not feel pain from the IV needle or you may feel a quick sting or pinch. A salivary gland scan usually does not cause pain.

You may find it hard to lie still during the scan.

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SOURCES:

American Dental Association, Healthy People 2010

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