How To Get Rid Of Dry Mouth Fast

What Happens Without Enough Saliva

Dry mouth is that uncomfortable feeling you get when you're not generating enough saliva to meet your needs.

Dry mouth is that uncomfortable feeling you get when you're not generating enough saliva to meet your needs. When your mouth fails to produce enough saliva, you will find yourself with more problems than just being thirsty.

By salivating, your mouth helps you taste and digest what you eat and drink. Food particles get flushed from your teeth and acid is washed away as well, which helps prevent tooth decay (cavities).

In this series, learn some of the many dry mouth (also known as xerostomia) causes, along with its symptoms, treatments, and remedies. This knowledge could be crucial to the ongoing health of your teeth and mouth.

What Dry Mouth Feels Like

Dry mouth symptoms are unpleasant and uncomfortable, but some of that discomfort takes surprising forms.

Dry mouth symptoms are unpleasant and uncomfortable, but some of that discomfort takes surprising forms. Did you know that lack of salivation can make your tongue burn? It's a condition known as burning tongue syndrome, and it's just one of the surprising symptoms of dry mouth.

When your mouth is dry, you may notice your mouth feels sticky. It may become difficult to eat and swallow. Your throat may become dry as well, making choking more common.

Along with all the other discomforts, dry mouth may make your lips crack, it may make your tongue rough and dry, and it could cause sores to form on and in your mouth.

Adding to all the other possible problems, you may find it difficult to talk without the saliva necessary to keep your tongue lubricated.

Unpleasant Side Effects

One of the potential bad breath causes is dry mouth.

One of the potential bad breath causes is dry mouth. Bad breath is sometimes called halitosis. Bad breath happens because food particles aren't being flushed away as frequently allowing bacteria to grow in the food particles.

While wearing lipstick, you may notice your makeup getting stuck to your teeth because nothing is there to rinse it away. A hoarse or ticklish throat may be another consequence of dry mouth.

Medications Can Cause Dry Mouth

Prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications can cause dry mouth.

It was once believed that xerostomia was a consequence of aging. Doctors now know that many medications seniors frequently take may be the actual culprits. When it comes to dry mouth, medications that cause it include more than 400 possible medicines like

painkillers,
diuretics,
blood pressure medicine,
antidepressants,
antihistamines,
asthma drugs, and
muscle relaxants.

Along with prescription drug treatments, a lot of over-the-counter drugs like decongestants may cause dry mouth, too. These include drugs for allergies and cold symptoms.

Medication isn't the only health-related cause. Sometimes other treatments for disease can bring on xerostomia. Radiation therapy for oral cancer can damage salivary glands in the process of attacking cancer cells. Another cancer treatment, chemotherapy, can thicken your saliva, causing your mouth to feel drier than usual.

Head and Neck Injuries

Sometimes xerostomia can be traced back to nerve damage in the head or neck. When you have been injured in these places, you may suffer from dry mouth nerve pain.

Sometimes xerostomia can be traced back to nerve damage in the head or neck. When you have been injured in these places, you may suffer from dry mouth nerve pain. Some of those nerves are responsible for carrying messages between your brain and salivary glands. If those nerves become damaged, your glands may not know when to produce saliva.

Sjögren's Syndrome and Other Medical Causes

Sjögren's syndrome can cause white blood cells to attack the salivary glands resulting in dry mouth.

Sometimes disease causes xerostomia. A health condition known as Sjögren's (SHOW-grens) syndrome can cause white blood cells to attack the tear and salivary glands. This can dry out the eyes and mouth. It affects an estimated 400,000 to 3.1 million adults. Older women are particularly susceptible.

With Sjögren's syndrome, patients remain otherwise healthy, but may find their mouths are dry, and may also experience swollen glands around the face and neck, irritated, gritty-feeling eyes and dryness in nasal passages, throat, and vagina. Acid reflux may also accompany this inflammatory disease.

Those with diabetes may also experience dry mouth when their blood sugar levels are too high. This may be a result of diabetes medications. HIV patients sometimes get dry mouth, too.

Yet Another Reason to Stop Smoking

Dry mouth may not be the most destructive effect of smoking.

Dry mouth may not be the most destructive effect of smoking. But wouldn't it be nice to be free of it? There's not a direct link between dry mouth and smoking, but xerostomia can be aggravated by using cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or other tobacco products—even smokeless ones.

A Doctor Can Treat the Symptoms

Both medical and dental health professionals can be useful allies if you suffer from xerostomia.

Both medical and dental health professionals can be useful allies if you suffer from xerostomia. If the cause is not prescription medication, a doctor's exam may unearth undiagnosed medical conditions interfering with your oral wellness like diabetes or Sjögren's syndrome. See your doctor if you need dry mouth treatment. your oral wellness like diabetes or Sjögren's syndrome.

Talk to Your Dentist About Mouth Dryness

When saliva stops flowing or slows, your teeth may be at risk.

When saliva stops flowing or slows, your teeth may be at risk. Fortunately, dentists are trained to resolve the worst oral health effects of xerostomia. By making regular dental checkups a routine, you can become better equipped to decrease the bad health effects of dry mouth.

Taking care of your mouth starts at home, though. Try these dry mouth home tips. Follow the usual advice from dentists and brush and floss every day. At those times when you can't brush after a meal, make sure to rinse your mouth. Simply sipping water throughout the day can improve your dental health, and so can using an alcohol-free, antiseptic mouthwash every day.

Some Tips to Boost Saliva Production

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about medications, over-the-counter (OTC) treatments, or candies, lozenges and sugar-free gums that can help stimulate salivation.

A healthy mouth produces about three pints of saliva per day. That's because saliva is crucial to so much of what happens in the mouth, from neutralizing acidic foods that could harm teeth to adding moisture to food that helps protect against choking. Wondering how to increase saliva production? Here are some tips for moistening your mouth:

Start with your doctor, and ask if any medicine could be useful.
Try sucking on a sugar-free candy or lozenge or chewing sugar-free gum, or lozenge. Lemon is a particularly effective flavor for stimulating salivation, as is any sour food.
Ask your pharmacist for recommendations on over-the-counter treatments that may help relieve your symptoms.

Want to Fight Dry Mouth? Drink More Water

Drinking or sipping more water throughout the day can aid in fighting off the worst symptoms of dry mouth.

It may seem obvious, but try to remember to sip more water frequently throughout the day to fight off the worst symptoms of xerostomia. Here are some more tips:

During mealtime, drink water or milk to ease chewing and swallowing.
Use a humidifier in the room you sleep in. Sometimes xerostomia symptoms will be better in the morning.
Avoid drinks with caffeine or lots of sugar and acid.
Make sure you are seeing your dentist regularly for your cleanings and dental exams.

Dry Mouth Causes, Treatments, and Remedies

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REFERENCES:

American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
American College of Rheumatology: "Sjögren's Syndrome."
American Dental Association.
American Diabetes Association: "More on the Mouth."
California Pacific Medical Center.
College of Dentistry, University of Florida: "AGD: Factsheet Compiled for You by the Academy of General Dentistry."
Harvard Health Publications: "What Causes Dry Mouth—and What Treats it."
Journal of the American Dental Association.
National Diabetes Education Program.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
National Institutes of Health's Senior Health.
NIH: "Dry Mouth."
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation.
University of Iowa Health Science Relations.

This tool does not provide medical advice. See additional information: Disclaimer

THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should not be relied on to make decisions about your health. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on the eMedicineHealth Site. If you think you may have a medical emergency, immediately call your doctor or dial 911.