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Dry Mouth

Dry mouth is medically known as xerostomia. This is typically a condition wherein the person suffers from a lack of saliva in the mouth. Saliva is a very important fluid for the oral wellbeing. It is required to keep the mouth moist, because a dry mouth can be responsible for an onset of bacteria and other microorganisms, which can lead to infections. A person with excessive dryness in the mouth will also not be able to taste food properly or even digest it, because saliva digests a major part of the carbohydrates in the mouth itself. A person with this condition will feel thirsty quite frequently.

Symptoms of Dry Mouth

The following are some of the most commonly observed symptoms of the condition of dry mouth:-

• The person‚’s saliva will continuously dry up. Due to this reason, there will be the repeated feeling that the mouth is excessively dry. This would lead to frequent feelings of thirstiness.

• The person‚’s saliva will continuously dry up. Due to this reason, there will be the repeated feeling that the mouth is excessively dry. This would lead to frequent feelings of thirstiness.

• The saliva of the person will not be light and transparent; instead it will seem dense and stickier than usual.
• It might lead to halitosis , i.e. a condition of bad breath.
• The dryness of the mouth might continue to dryness in the throat also. A common side-effect in people with xerostomia is soreness of the throat.
• The person may also suffer from chapped and cracked lips.
• Some symptoms make their occurrence at the corners of the mouth, a region that is kept moist with saliva. Instead, these corners will completely dry up too and the skin might become chapped and dried up.
• Normal speech becomes difficult; it becomes difficult to swallow foods.
• Chances of dental decay increase and various dental problems make their appearance felt. These are compounded with diseases of the gums. Plaque deposition on the teeth also occurs.
• There is impairment in the sense of taste.

Causes of Dry Mouth

There is a host of factors that can be responsible for the condition of xerostomia. This condition can be caused due to many antibiotics . However, these situations are temporary and are reversed when the medication is stopped. Medications for cancer are typically known to cause dry mouth. People who have uncontrolled diabetes which is not yet diagnosed are also candidates for this condition.

Besides that, alcohol, especially beer, can cause the mouth to dry up. A similar effect is experienced by drug abusers, only that it is more prolonged.

Dry mouth also occurs when one remains thirsty or even hungry for a long time. However, these conditions are easily reversed when the person consumes food or drink.

Treatment of Dry Mouth

The treatment of dry mouth is done on a case-to-case basis because it has to be treated according to the symptoms. The cause is first identified and then a treatment pattern is chalked out according to the cause. The most suitable method to tackle this condition is to drink plenty of water and to reduce the intake of sugar, which has a drying up effect for the mouth. There are certain antibiotics that can be prescribed in order to stimulate the production of saliva in the mouth.