It is normal to have a dry mouth once in a while, however, if you have a dry mouth all the time, you should check with your Dentist or Doctor, as it can lead to serious health problems and note, it is not a normal part of aging.
Dry mouth can cause problems with tasting, chewing swallowing, speaking and may also increase chances of developing infections within the mouth or dental decay. It can also be a sign of certain diseases/conditions or it can sometimes be caused by medications or medical treatments such as Radiation and Chemotherapy.
When you have dry mouth you do not have enough saliva, or spit to keep your mouth wet. If this is the case, you may experience a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth or throat. You may have cracked lips, mouth sores, or a dry rough tongue and you may have trouble swallowing, chewing, tasting or speaking.
It is important to have enough saliva in your mouth to keep it wet because it helps to digest food, protects teeth from decay, helps to prevent infections and makes it possible to chew and swallow. The treatment of dry mouth will depend on what the cause is.
Management of Dry Mouth
Why is saliva so important?
- neutralize acids from food & drink
- aid in proper speech and articulation
- help strengthen teeth by delivering calcium, phosphate and fluoride to the teeth
- protect exposed root surfaces
- helps to positively impact the immune system
More than 500 commonly used drugs create dry mouth (Especially)
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What you can do (for comfort and to reduce cavity risk)
- Increase quantity of saliva
- use Xyli-melts (effects last 4-6 hours) – buy at Shoppers Drug Mart
- use Xylitol containing gum or mints – buy at Shoppers Drug Mart
- Therapeutic: X-pur (20g day)
- Gum 1-2 pieces (3-5x day)
- Mints 2-4 pieces (3-5x day)
- Preventative: Pur, Spry – buy at Health food stores
- Therapeutic: X-pur (20g day)
- Home care
- brush, floss, clean tongue (minimum 2x day)
- clean teeth after all meals and snacks when possible
- Remineralizing toothpastes & Fluoride rinses (10% Xylitol – therapeutic)
- D 0.05% NaF rinses (Opti-rinse) 1x day- Do not rinse/swallow – Shopper’s
- X-pur Remin toothpaste 1-2 x day – Do not rinse – online or dental office.
- Other recommendations
- avoid mouth rinses with alcohol &. toothpastes with high sodium la1:1reslu lfate .
- drink water regularly throughout the day
- use a humidifier to add moisture to your room
- avoid anti-histamines & decongestants
- limit alcohol and caffeine consumption
- caution with hard, dry or crunchy foods
- limit sugar consumption (food/drink) & carbonated drinks (pop)
- more frequent dental visits
- For comfort Biotene mouth rinse, oral moisturizing gel, toothpaste, spray
