Have you ever felt a dry, sticky, and tacky sensation in your mouth? Not only does this feel unpleasant, but dry mouth could put your oral health in danger. The dry oral environment allows natural oral bacteria to spread more easily across your teeth. This can heighten your risk for oral infections like gum disease.
While a dentist can treat oral health concerns, you should prevent irreversible damage to your smile by addressing risk factors like dry mouth. This condition can develop for a number of reasons, including elements outside of your control like aging or medication side effects.
If you experience dry mouth on a chronic basis, you may need to visit your dentist to find ways to stop this issue. But you can also treat mild cases on your own. Read on to find advice from your dentist that can relieve uncomfortable dry mouth from the comfort of your home.
Stay Hydrated
If you become dehydrated, your body will respond to this lack of water in several ways, including producing less saliva. With less moisture in the mouth, you will feel that dry oral environment which can be detrimental to your dental health.
Drink plenty of water, at least eight eight-ounce glasses per day, in order to maintain adequate levels of hydration. If you consume dehydrating agents, like alcohol or caffeine, you should drink even more water to make up for it.
Drinking water will fight dry mouth both on an acute basis, by introducing moisture directly to the mouth, and on a long-term one by beating dehydration. Pay attention to the amount of water you drink, especially if you frequently develop dry mouth.
Stimulate Saliva Production
If you feel like your mouth is dry, you can stimulate the production of saliva in your mouth by the act of chewing. However, you might worry that eating when you do not feel hungry will disrupt your usual diet.
You can fight dry mouth without affecting your eating habits by chewing gum. This encourages more saliva in your mouth to get rid of that unpleasant dry feeling.
Make sure you choose a sugar-free type of gum so that you do not hurt your teeth while you fight dry mouth. Sugar notoriously weakens your teeth, making you more prone to tooth decay. So avoid added sugar wherever you can, including in chewing gum.
Evaluate Environmental Factors
While dry mouth might develop due to factors outside of your control, you can take a look at your surroundings to see if you can alleviate dry mouth symptoms. For instance, if you spend time in a room with dry air, the dryness can also affect your oral environment. You cannot always avoid certain areas, so you can try to change them to reduce the effects of dry mouth.
Purchase a humidifier, a device that introduces moisture into the air. This can relieve dryness in the space as well as your mouth. If dry mouth persists, do not ignore the issue. Learn more about dry mouth treatment and prevention by giving your dentist a call.