Dental Talk Thursday | Xerostomia aka Dry Mouth

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Dental Talk Thursday | Xerostomia aka Dry Mouth

Let's talk teeth!

For this week's Dental Talk Thursday we are going to be talking about xerostomia aka dry mouth.

Dry sticky feeling in your mouth? Dry, red tongue? Thirsty often? Suffer from split skin at the corners of you mouth? Cracked lips? Dry feeling in your throat? Burning or tingling sensation in the mouth or tongue?

If you answered yes, you might have dry mouth!

What causes it?

Dry mouth can be caused by many medications and certain health conditions such as autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, anemia, diabetes mellitus, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stress, chemotherapy, smoking, fear, and excessive head and neck radiation.

What should you do about it?

When eating, always choose moist, dense, and soft foods as well as firm and fibrous foods to help stimulate saliva. You can drink more water between meals, get a humidifier, eat popsicles, chew gum containing xylitol, suck on sugar free hard candy, or eat ice chips. Using lip balm or saliva stimulating agents such as Biotein or Salagen will also help.

Chewing sugar free gum containing a natural sweetener called xylitol is another easy way to help manage dry mouth. Brand name gum, ‘Spry’ and ‘Ice Breakers Ice Cubes,’ contain the most amount of xylitol that you can find in stores.

What should you avoid?

Avoid dry, crumbly, sticky, and spicy foods, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, caffeine, and mouth rinse containing alcohol. When buying mouth rinse, choose an option that includes ‘zero’ in the label, that means that it contains zero alcohol.

Why is having it a problem?

Dry mouth raises your risk of gingivitis (gum disease), tooth decay, and mouth infections such as thrush. Always use a fluoride tooth paste and see your dentist and hygienist at least twice a year to help prevent cavities.

- Rachel Faul, Registered Dental Hygienist

*Stay tuned for next weeks "Dental Talk Thursday" over at Facebook.com/RachelFaulFitness at 7:30pm EST