Dealing With A Dry Mouth? Tips To Ease Your Discomfort

Dentist Articles

If you have been struggling with a persistent dry mouth, you may find yourself reaching out to your dentist to find a way to ease the symptoms. The clinical name for dry mouth is xerostomia. The symptoms occur due to a lack of saliva production, which is usually caused by an underlying health condition, such as diabetes or hypothyroidism. Persistent dry mouth can lead to problems with swallowing, unquenchable thirst and general discomfort. Here are a few tips to help you deal with your symptoms while you wait for the dentist, and a look at what your dentist may be able to do for you.

Reduce Your Intake of Sugar

Not only is sugar harmful for your teeth, but its negative effects can be intensified when you're suffering from dry mouth. Since your mouth doesn't have sufficient saliva to combat the problem, it can allow the sugar to run rampant on your teeth, causing more decay. If you eat anything with sugar, follow it up with some water and brush your teeth quickly.

Stay Hydrated

If your body is dehydrated, it's going to increase the severity of your dry mouth symptoms. Make a point to drink as much water as possible daily – at least eight glasses. This helps to maintain your hydration levels. If you are severely dehydrated, your doctor may suggest an electrolyte solution to help restore your body's necessary hydration.

Invest in Sugar-Free Gum

Chewing gum helps to stimulate saliva production naturally. If you chew gum throughout the day, it will help ease your dry mouth symptoms. Just make sure you're chewing sugar-free gum; otherwise you're risking the development of cavities from the sugar.

Use Mouthwash Regularly

Prescription mouthwash products are used to restore the moisture levels in your mouth until your salivary glands can do the job on their own. Your dentist can recommend a mouthwash that's good for moisture retention until your appointment.

Run a Humidifier

Humidifiers and vaporizers increase the moisture in the air by creating moist vapor from warm water. If the air in your home is dry, this can make your dry mouth symptoms worse. By adding a humidifier to each of the large rooms in the house, you can increase the ambient moisture in the air, which could help to reduce the dryness in your mouth.

Meet With Your Dentist

If these steps don't resolve your dry mouth condition, you'll want to talk with a dentist at a clinic such as Dentistry For Children & Adolescents. He or she can do a thorough exam to determine the root cause of your dry mouth symptoms. If it is due to a medical condition such as diabetes, you'll have to get treatment for the condition in order to see complete relief.

He or she may also ask about the medications that you're taking, because some medications can cause dry mouth. If the issue is caused by a medication, your dentist may suggest asking your physician about an alternative.

There are some prescription medications designed to stimulate the natural production of saliva in your mouth. These medications can help ease your symptoms until such time as you can deal with the direct cause. In addition, your dentist may also recommend a regimen of certain mouth rinses or dietary changes.

As you can see, dry mouth isn't something you should just have to live with. Instead, with a proactive dentist and the tips in this article, you can deal with your symptoms, identify the cause and eliminate the problem altogether. Talk with your dentist today about your dry mouth symptoms to see if he or she can help you identify the cause. While you're waiting for your appointment, the other tips here may provide some temporary relief.

6 July 2015