A dry mouth is not uncommon upon first waking up in the morning. One that lasts all day every day, however, is often a sign of xerostomia, or dry mouth syndrome. A number of causes can be behind the condition and a number of things can exacerbate it. Smoking, chewing tobacco, caffeine and mouthwash that contains alcohol all dry out the mouth even further.
Symptoms
In addition to leaving you with a dry mouth due to lack of saliva, dry mouth syndrome comes with a host of other symptoms, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) points out. These include a stickiness or burning sensation in your mouth or a dryness that extends down into your throat. People with dry mouth syndrome often have problems tasting, chewing, swallowing or even speaking. Lips sometimes become cracked and dry, the tongue becomes dry and rough and mouth sores often develop.
Side Effects
If dry mouth syndrome's symptoms are not enough of a pain on their own, the condition also frequently leads to a few negative side effects, NIH and Women Fitness says. Having a dry mouth leads to a potential increase in cavities and tooth decay along with problems with dentures and other mouth prostheses. The chance of mouth infections also increase without adequate saliva.
Causes
The immediate cause of dry mouth syndrome is malfunctioning salivary glands, MayoClinic.com and the NIH say, and the glands malfunction for a number of reasons. Certain medications or medical treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation therapy, leave you with a dry mouth, as does nerve damage to the nerve that controls the salivary glands' output. Dry mouth also often comes from an underlying condition or disease, particularly diabetes, WomenFitness.com adds.
Misconceptions
Dry mouth is not a normal part of growing older, Mayo Clinic and NIH state. However, older people often suffer from dry mouth syndrome because of a number of different medications they take. Others, specifically those suffering from Alzheimer's or the effects of stroke, often think they have dry mouth when they really don't because they can no longer feel the saliva in their mouths.
Remedies
A trip to the doctor is the ideal remedy to adjust medications or get to the root cause of the problem, and there are also a host of home remedies that help alleviate the dryness, Mayo Clinic and NIH say. Chewing sugarless gum or sucking on sugarless hard candy stimulates saliva flow. Sipping plenty of water or sugarless drinks helps you swallow during meals and keeps your mouth moist throughout the day. Other remedies include using a humidifier at night, breathing through your nose instead of your mouth and brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. Over-the-counter saliva substitutes are also available.
