What You Need to Know about the Dangers of Dry Mouth

A young woman smiling while drinking a cup of tea, her mouth healthy after treatment for chronic dry mouthEverybody has had a dry mouth at some point in his or her life, and it is nothing if not annoying. Now, imagine having a chronically dry mouth. For most of the day, even when you drink water, your mouth is sticky and deprived of the moisture it needs for comfort and to function properly. At night, you wake up feeling as though your mouth is filled with sandpaper. Since you are reading this blog post right now, you probably either know exactly how terrible chronic dry mouth can be or love someone who does. What you may not know is that dry mouth can actually be a dangerous condition or that restorative dentistry offers solutions to chronic dry mouth.

For those who are struggling with chronic dry mouth and its dangers, our Wilmington dental practice, Smile Solutions by Emmi Dental Associates, offers both education about how to avoid dry mouth and treatments for this potentially hazardous condition. If you or someone you love suffers from dry mouth, we urge you to visit our caring, experienced dental team today.

How Dry Mouth Endangers Your Oral Health

Although most people take it for granted, saliva is one of the most important fluids in the human body. Without it, you could not swallow, chew, taste, or even speak. Your mouth simply could not function, and the delicate soft tissues of your mouth, including your tongue, the insides of your cheeks, and your gums, would lack the external moisture they need. One of the most important and least well-known roles of saliva is to keep the mouth clean, as it helps to remove bacteria, acids, and food particles from your teeth. People with dry mouth tend not to produce enough saliva to keep their mouths free from these destructive substances, which puts them at higher risk of gum disease, tooth decay, root canal infections, and other serious dental problems.

Dry mouth is often also a symptom of poor oral hygiene and lifestyle habits that can be detrimental to a person’s oral health, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, overconsumption of coffee and other caffeine-rich beverages, and the failure to drink enough water.

How to Avoid the Dangers of Dry Mouth

In addressing chronic dry mouth, the first line of treatment is to make whatever lifestyle changes are necessary to improving the condition. If you smoke, please do what you can to quit. This will improve your dry mouth, your oral health, and your overall health significantly. If you are not drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, you should be. Depending on your body type, you may even require more water than that in order to stay properly hydrated. Of course, be sure to brush, floss, and rinse your mouth at least twice a day and visit our practice twice annually for professional cleanings and exams.

Some people are genetically predisposed to dry mouth. If you have made all necessary alterations to your daily routines and are still experiencing dry mouth, we can prescribe a treatment plan that will help you overcome the condition. For further information, please contact Smile Solutions by Emmi Dental Associates today.