Feeling like your mouth is dry, also known as xerostomia, is a common experience. It affects over 1 in 5 people globally and becomes more common as we get older (1). Chronic dry mouth can have significant oral and general health consequences. It increases your risk for cavities, gum inflammation, infections in your mouth (like thrush), and eventually tooth loss (1;2). If you wear dentures, it can also make it harder to keep them in place or more likely that you’ll develop sores (3;4). These experiences can be frustrating and lead to difficulty eating and poorer nutritional intake (3).
Dry mouth happens for several reasons. Sometimes, salivary glands themselves don’t produce enough saliva. This is called hyposalivation (1). Other times, chronic medical conditions like diabetes, autoimmune disorders like Sjogren’s syndrome, and treatments like radiation and chemotherapy for cancer result in dry mouth (1;2;4;6). Additionally, over 100 medications are associated with dry mouth, including common medications like certain antidepressants, high blood pressure medications, and allergy medications like antihistamines (1;6).
What can be done if you feel like your mouth is consistently dry? The first step is talking to your dental professional. They can speak with your medical team if medications or medical conditions are contributing. While the underlying cause (or causes) of dry mouth can’t always be “cured”, several common strategies to relieve dry mouth include (1;2;4-6):
- Sipping water throughout the day
- Using a humidifier
- Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco that can irritate oral tissues
- Choosing alcohol-free mouthrinses
Your dental professional may also prescribe special toothpastes to help prevent cavities or recommend other supportive products, like mouthrinses or saliva substitutes (2;5). What else can be done? Let’s turn to a systematic review assessing the effects of oral self-care and oral exercise education in older adults living in the community in Korea and Japan.
What the research tells us
The review found that dry mouth education and instruction from health professionals led to improvements in both the amount of saliva and reported oral health-related quality of life, when compared to no instruction or simply general oral health education. Instruction from health professionals included exercises to strengthen tongue and lip muscles, salivary gland massage, and stretches for the neck and face muscles (3). While the current evidence is based on small, short-term studies and more high-quality research is needed, oral self-care and oral exercises may be considered as potential strategies for managing dry mouth.
Because this intervention is based on education and behavior-building, there are relatively few risks or costs; however, you should always talk to your dentist first if you’re struggling with dry mouth. Dry mouth happens for many reasons that may not be manageable by self-care alone, and it’s important to get information and instruction from qualified professionals. Dentists have varying skills for managing dry mouth, so they may refer you to a dental or medical professional with specialized knowledge to get you the care you need.
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