Dry Mouth or Xerostomia

Dry mouth (also known as xerostomia) occurs when your mouth does not produce sufficient saliva to keep it moist.

The helpful properties of saliva are:

Saliva helps to wash away food particles from your mouth. If left in mouth, this will become catalysts for bacteria to wreak havoc.

As saliva is alkaline in nature, it helps to neutralize the acids produced by bacteria and thus reduces tooth decay.

Saliva contains fluorides and minerals that can help in the remineralization of enamel of your teeth.

Improves food digestion.

As saliva keeps bacteria and fungi present in the mouth under control, it reduces chances of infections due to them.

Chewing and swallowing is possible only with the help of saliva.

Amount of saliva in individual parts of your mouth differ from one another. A lot of saliva is present in the area near tongue on the lower part and are known as saliva highways. Similarly, saliva byways are on the upper side of your mouth near the cheeks where the amount of saliva is the lowest. Naturally, tooth decay and other problems are more common in the saliva byways than saliva highways.

A protein film of saliva is usually protecting your gums and teeth. Stimulated saliva can provide much more protection than that provided by non-stimulated saliva. Saliva has the potential to reduce the chances of caries occurring.

People who do not have sufficient saliva are prone to suffer from tooth decay and other infections. Further more, they will be deficient on nutrients, as they cannot consume all types of food items.

Dry mouth can:

Affect your abilities to chew, taste, swallow and speak properly
Risk of tooth decay and other problems can be heightened
Be due to some other physiological problems
Be the side effect of medications or medical treatments you are undertaking

Symptoms of dry mouth include:

Dryness or stickiness felt in your mouth
Face problems in tasting, speaking, chewing, swallowing etc
Burning sensation in your mouth
Throat always feeling dry
Lips become unusually cracked
Tongue getting drier
Mouth sores
Infections in your mouth
Faster tooth decay

Most common reasons of dry mouth are:

As many as 400 different medications can reduce the amount of saliva produced. Medications for hypertension, anxiety, depression, psychosis as well as antihistamines, antispasmodics, cancer-chemotherapy drugs, decongestants, muscle relaxants etc are known to cause dry mouth.

Intensive radiation therapy applied on your facial or neck area can cause dry mouth.

Diseases like Sjogren's syndrome, bacterial and viral infections, un-controlled diabetes, salivary gland stones, tumors, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, anxiety, HIV/AIDS, depression, Bell's palsy, Parkinson's disease etc are known to cause dry mouth. Alzheimer's and stroke sufferers are unable to feel the moistness in their mouth.

People undergoing chemotherapy, as a treatment for cancer tend to get dry feeling in their mouth due to the saliva becoming thicker.

Patients with head or neck injuries may feel dry mouth, as their nerve damage will cause the brain to stop saliva production.

Damages from periodontal diseases or from root caries can cause severe dryness in your mouth.

In case you have this problem, as dry mouth is not some thing you are supposed to suffer as you age, you should check with your physician or dentist and get to the bottom of the reasons for it.

Recommendations For What To Do For Dry Mouth

If you suffer from dry mouth, you can adhere to the following suggestions and reduce the negative effects associated with it:

Make a habit of drinking small amounts of water all through the day.

Reduce the amount of spices used in your food as spicy food can irritate your mouth.

Always keep a water spray bottle handy everywhere you go and moisten your mouth frequently.

Chewing gum is known to increase saliva production. Xylitol contained in some chewing gums are known to reduce bacteria that can cause tooth decay.

In case your mouth is sore, rinsing it in warm salt water or baking soda solution can relieve your mouth.

Sucking on hard candy in citrus, cinnamon or mint flavor can increase the saliva production.

Eat fiber rich food items like carrots, celery etc.

Instead of a regular toothbrush, use an electric one.

Sip water while you eat. This will make chewing and swallowing much easier.

Use an alcohol free mouthwash regularly.

Use less salt and spices in your food, as these can be painful in a dry mouth.

Increase sauces and gravy items so as to moisten your mouth and the food you eat.

Addition of butter can moisten your food.

As caffeine is known to increase dryness in your mouth, go for caffeine free drinks.

Brush your teeth whenever possible so as to reduce the risk of cavity formation.

Avoid using toothpastes with sodium lauryl sulphate as it is known to irritate your gums.

Avoid or reduce cavity causing food items like sweet, sticky, sugary and high acid foods.

Try to brush after every meal. If not possible rinse and swallow some water at the earliest.

Yeast build up can occur on the plastic material of dentures and this can be a severe problem for people with dry mouth. You can prevent this by soaking your dentures in chlorine bleach solution in a ratio of 1 to 10 with water.

Avoid using mouthwashes that contain phenol or alcohol as they can leave you with drier mouth and thus more susceptible to gum problems.

Use mouthwashes with fluoride in them.

Just before going to bed, apply toothpaste on to your teeth and gums with your hands or a brush for a minute's time. Swish this with water for another minute time so that the toothpaste will reach al parts of your teeth and gums. Now spit this out. Do not rinse your mouth of after this. Do not drink any thing after this. Hit the bed as such with some toothpaste residue in your mouth. Repeat the same process again in the morning when you get up. Wait for thirty minutes before you eat or drink any food.

Before going to bed every night and after getting up every morning, put on a mouth guard with gel in it for roughly ten minutes of time.

Tobacco products, alcohol, mouthwashes containing alcohol, cinnamon, peppermint and wintergreen should be avoided, as they are known to make your mouth drier.

Try to always breath through your nose alone. Breathing through your mouth will make it become drier as the moisture is getting evaporated.

While sleeping at night, use a room vaporizer so as to reduce dryness of your mouth.

Check with your doctor to see if pilocarpine would be appropriate for you to improve your salivary gland functioning.

In case the problem is a side effect of any particular medication, check with your doctor to see if there is any alternative ones without the side effect