Hi claw, and welcome. This is a wonderful site for information and support. My own experience falls along the same lines as the previous posters. I had IMRT and surgery, and now at 3 years out I would estimate my salivary function at maybe 70-80%. However David is right, it's hard to remember what it was before! Taste is a little trickier as I have some permanent tongue numbness which undoubtedly affects it. But my impression from reading many posts here is that all things being equal your husband should recover his taste to the degree that he will enjoy food again. He might even get nearly all of it back; we're all different. Mainly though the process will take time and it's great that he has you!

Please keep us informed about how it's going and be sure and ask plenty of questions, both here and with your medical team.