Dry mouth (xerostomia) is annoying and often painful. A healthy person produces around one and a half litres of saliva per day. If you eat predominantly dry food, the saliva becomes thinner, with watery food it becomes thicker. If saliva production is inhibited and the mouth is dry, it is difficult to speak, pronunciation becomes slurred, the tongue and oral cavity burn and the sense of taste is impaired. In other words: the quality of life is severely restricted. This does not have to be the case, there are simple remedies that help in most cases.


However, dry mouth can also lead to serious problems. Saliva contains substances that fight off pathogens. When saliva flow is reduced, germs settle in the oral cavity and cause inflammation, tooth decay, gum problems and even tooth loss.

Causes

• The most common cause of dry mouth is a lack of fluids; the person concerned drinks too little. Smokers and older people often suffer from a reduced feeling of thirst and only drink when they feel thirsty, even though the body needs much more fluid.
• Acute dehydration occurs with fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, which can be quickly remedied by drinking sufficient fluids.
• Medications such as antihypertensives, antibiotics and psychotropic drugs can also trigger acute dry mouth.
• Diabetes patients often suffer from permanently dry mouth.
• Another cause is chemotherapy and other radiotherapy.

Aids

If your mouth is unpleasantly dry, you should mainly drink water or tea, never sweet drinks such as lemonade. It also helps to rinse your mouth several times with water or suck on ice cubes.
Massaging the glandular tissue behind the ear should also stimulate the flow of saliva.
It is also important to chew thoroughly. To "force" yourself to chew thoroughly, you can eat particularly tough or hard foods.
Sugar-free dental care chewing gums provide a remedy.
So-called artificial saliva is available to buy. The basic ingredient is carboxylmethylcellulose (CMC), to which various substances such as calcium, phosphate or sweeteners are added. Nowadays, artificial saliva is also available on a plant basis.