Dry Mouth

Dry mouth, or xerostomia, is characterised by reduced salivary secretion. This condition can be quite bothersome, as it may impair your eating ability and diminish your sense of taste.

A dry mouth can temporarily occur occasionally throughout the day due to insufficient water intake or dehydration. However, if you experience dry mouth consistently or most of the time, it is important to seek professional assistance from our dental experts. This will help prevent complications associated with dry mouth, which include an increased risk of cavities and gum disease.

Dulwich Dental Offices is home to a team of skilled dentists who specialise in diagnosing the underlying causes of dental issues and developing the most appropriate treatment plans for your needs.

Causes of Dry Mouth

Dry mouth may occur due to many causes either natural causes, medications, or underlying health conditions. The causes of a dry mouth include:

1. Aging: As a normal aging process, the salivary gland may not be capable of producing the normal amount of saliva it used to make due to the long-term intake of certain medications and anatomical changes in the salivary glands.
2. Dehydration and stress: These are temporary reasons that cause a diminished salivary flow.
3. Problems with salivary glands: Any disease or lesion in the salivary gland especially the parotid gland, the largest salivary gland, may affect the salivary flow and cause dry mouth. Salivary gland diseases include inflammation, stones, and nerve damage to the head and neck area. Once the problem is resolved, the salivary production is back to normal.
4. General health problems: Some medical conditions may affect how much saliva your body can produce, such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke, or autoimmune diseases that may attack the salivary glands such as Sjogren’s syndrome.
5. Medications: Dry mouth can occur as a side effect of certain medications. The most popular medications that can cause a dry mouth include: antihistamines, decongestants, some pain killers, anti-depressants, Parkinson’s disease medications, and high blood pressure medications. If you are on a certain drug that may be causing dry mouth do not stop your medication on your own. Consult your healthcare provider about shifting to another substitute.

6. Cancer therapy: Both chemo and radiotherapy for cancer treatment can affect salivary production and cause dry mouth. Chemotherapy may cause stickier saliva or may affect the amount produced. Mostly this is a reversible condition once the chemotherapy is stopped. Radiotherapy causes a decrease in the amount of saliva produced. Depending on the dose and proximity of radiotherapy to the salivary gland tissue, it can cause temporary or permanent damage to the salivary glands.

7. Snoring and mouth breathing: If you wake up with a dry mouth, this is probably because you snore or are a mouth breather. Consult our dental experts to solve snoring issues using nightguards to avoid a dry mouth.

8. Smoking, alcohol, and drugs: Consuming drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products (smoking or chewing tobacco) is well known to cause a dry mouth.

Symptoms of Dry Mouth

You may identify that you suffer from a fry mouth if you have:

• Dryness or stickiness in your mouth
• Bad breath
• Difficulty in swallowing food
• Dry throat and hoarseness of voice
• Mouth ulcers
• Problems in food tasting
• Problems wearing dentures.
• Cracked lips.

Complications of Dry Mouth

A dry mouth can greatly affect your oral health and cause GIT problems. A decreased salivary flow will lead to loss of the lubricating and washing effects of saliva, which may lead to:

1. Increased risk of developing tooth decay and gum inflammation
2. Mouth ulcers
3. Oral thrush (yeast infection in the mouth)
4. GIT problems due to the lack of ability to properly chew food.
5. Lip cracks.

Diagnosis And Treatment of Dry Mouth

Dulwich Dental Office features a world-class diagnostic Centre, staffed by expert dental professionals and equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic tools, to ensure accurate diagnoses for any dental issue.

If you suspect a dry mouth, our dental experts will conduct a thorough investigation through visual examinations and medical history, combined with diagnostic tests, to reach a definitive diagnosis and develop the most appropriate treatment plan.

If no medical condition or medication can explain dry mouth, the following diagnostic tools are valuable for assessing the health of the salivary glands:

• Sialometry: A non-invasive simple procedure used to measure the volume of saliva produced. A collection device is positioned around the opening of the salivary gland to gather and quantify the saliva produced.
• Sialography: A specialised radiographic procedure used to evaluate the salivary glands. It is particularly valuable for diagnosing salivary gland stones.
• Biopsy: Our dental professionals may order a salivary gland biopsy to rule out tumors.The treatment of dry mouth depends on its underlying cause. For instance, if dry mouth is caused by a specific medication, you may be referred to your healthcare provider for a suitable alternative. If a medical condition is responsible for the dry mouth, treatment will focus on managing that condition to alleviate the symptoms of dry mouth.When the cause of dry mouth cannot be managed through a definitive intervention, such as during radiotherapy, certain treatments may be necessary to avoid the adverse effects of dry mouth, including:
  • Saliva Stimulants
  • Sorbitol mouth lozenges
  • Xylitol mouthwash
  • Artificial saliva

Lifestyle And Home Remedies to Ease Dry Mouth

• Keep your mouth moisturised by sucking ice cubes.
• Chew sugarless gum to stimulate salivary production.
• Use lip balm to moisturise your lips and ease lip cracks.
• Maintain daily oral hygiene measures and use fluoridated toothpaste to decrease caries risk.
• Limit your consumption of alcohol and tobacco.
• Drink plenty of water and avoid dehydration.
• Avoid acidic, spicy, and hard food to avoid mouth ulcers.