What are the symptoms and
clinical signs? In medicine a dry mouth is termed xerostomia. In
some cases the patient may complain of a dry or burning feeling. The
tongue taste buds may shrink away, there will be cracking or fissure
formation. There are all degrees of dry mouth.
What are the causes of dry mouth? Temporary dry mouth can be due to
emotional events, blockage of saliva duct with calculus, infection
of the salivary glands.
Long term chronic dry mouth occurs with:
- Taking of certain
medications. Diuretics, antihistamines are examples.
- The aging process
itself
- Radiation therapy
Vitamin deficiency. Especially vitamin A.
- Sjogren's Syndrome
And or Lupus Erythematosis. SS is sometimes a manifestation of LE.
What are the
consequences of dry mouth? The problems associated with dry mouth
are six:
- Rampant caries and
gum disease. That means you get a lot of cavities! It is not easy
to control and becomes frustrating for both the patient and the
dentist.
- If you wear
dentures they are difficult to keep in place because saliva which
is now in short supply acts as a seal to keep the denture held in
place
- Digestive problems.
It becomes difficult for your body to break down and process food.
- Bad breath!
- The annoying habit
of licking lips and inside of cheeks in the company of others.
- Loss of taste
sensation. Saliva is needed to create medium for taste buds.
There is generally no
cure for chronic dry mouth. Here are three ways to reduce the
problem.
- Professional Help:
If you are on meds see your MD for a consult. Perhaps change of
medications will help.
- Use sugar free
candy or chewing gum. Use special saliva inducing tablets and/or
artificial saliva. Two new drugs Salagen and Biotene offer much
promise in alleviating xerostomia. Call us for the Rx.
- If you have tried
all that and still not very good results consider our saliva
inducing retainer. It looks a lot like an orthodontic retainer. It
is being tested for effectiveness and you can be part of the
experiment.
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