Do You Have Chronic Dry Mouth?
Here’s What Causes It + Symptoms

Your saliva is more than just spit. It’s your mouth’s secret weapon to fight gum disease and tooth decay. It also plays a big factor in maintaining overall good health.

Unfortunately, about a ⅓ of us suffer from chronic dry mouth – we call it Xerostomia in the dental field. This is a condition that inhibits your ability to adequately produce the amount of saliva needed to protect your teeth, gums + oral health.

What’s a good amount of saliva flow? When it flows like it should, the average person produces about 24 ounces of saliva every day. This is the amount needed for your saliva to properly rinse and remove unwanted debris from your mouth, help you break down food when you eat and provide disease-fighting substances to protect you from cavities and infections.

Your saliva is much more than just spit.

Oral Health Symptoms of Dry Mouth

So, what kinds of dental issues does dry mouth cause? When chronic dry mouth gets in the way of letting your saliva do its job bad things can happen to your oral health. Here are some tell-tale signs:

• Increased Cavities
• Chronic Bad Breath
• You Have Inflamed Gums (Gum Disease)
• Your Tooth Enamel is Eroding

What Causes Chronic Dry Mouth?

At some point, most adults have experienced occasional dry mouth. Stressful situations can trigger it, as well as drinking alcohol or consuming certain foods. Dry mouth happens. But when you start to notice it often, or it starts becoming a nuisance for your comfort, there may be some more serious, underlying cause for it.

1. Taking Medications – many commonly prescribed medications can promote dry mouth. Antihistamines or decongestants for allergies; some pain medications, Antidepressants or anti-anxiety; blood pressure drugs; and the list goes on – 80% of prescriptions can cause it.
2. Sleeping With Your Mouth Open – Night time open mouth breather? If that’s you, this habit contributes to your chronic dry mouth. And routine open mouth breathing while you sleep allows acids to erode the enamel of your teeth – that’s 6-8 hours a day. A recent survey states that over 60% of Americans breathe through their mouths when they sleep. Open mouth breathing might be related to a habit, congestion, or having a sleeping disorder like sleep apnea, which repeatedly halts and then re-starts your breathing throughout your sleep and it can also cause chronic snoring.
3. Certain Health Issues – Quite a few health issues can contribute to chronic dry mouth, such as Diabetes, Parkinson’s, or Acid Reflux.
4. Cancer Therapy – Reduced saliva flow is often noted as a side effect of chemotherapy drugs.
5. You Don’t Drink Enough Water – Are you drinking enough water? One study claims that 4 out 10 adults don’t. What’s the magic number? About 6 pints for women and 8 pints for men. Staying well hydrated throughout the day will give your saliva a fighting chance to do its job.
6. Your Lifestyle – Smoking, or chewing tobacco and drinking alcohol can aggravate your dry mouth symptoms, as can smoking cannabis, which can also increase your risk for gum disease.
   

Suffering from on-going dry mouth is not fun. It disrupts your life, and leads to long-term dental or health issues. Fortunately, having a mouth that feels as dry as a desert doesn’t have to be part of your life moving forward. We can help reduce your dry mouth symptoms and protect your teeth. Possible remedies could include anti-cavity oral rinses, prescription toothpaste, in-office fluoride rinses, and more.

If you believe you have chronic dry mouth, please call us at (206) 242-0066 to schedule an exam and consultation, or request your appointment online. We’ll review the health of your gums and, based on the level of your gum disease, we’ll help you develop a treatment plan to eliminate it, or help you effectively manage it.