Treatments For A Dry Mouth: Xerostomia
Do you have Xerostomia? Xerostomia is the medical term for a dry mouth caused by salivary gland dysfunction, medication, radiation therapy, or Sjogren's syndrome. There are many treatments you can explore to stimulate saliva production and quality of life. This blog post will discuss some non-surgical and surgical treatments of Xerostomia that are available today!
What Is Xerostomia?
Xerostomia is a medical term that means mouth dryness. In a dry mouth, saliva flow is scarce.
Why Is Saliva Production Important?
Saliva is important for a xerostomia patient because saliva helps to break down food. It also protects the teeth, mouth, and throat from disease-causing bacteria that lead to gingivitis and periodontal diseases!
What Are The Symptoms Of Dry Mouth?
A dry mouth diagnosis is very important to prevent tooth decay and keep the mouth healthy. A dry mouth is a condition that affects your saliva production. Following are the dry mouth symptoms:
What Are The Causes Of Dry Mouth?
It is important to figure out the root causes of dry mouth to prevent tooth decay and stop the problem due to which salivary secretion is adversely affecting.
A Side Effect Of Certain Medications:
According to the American dental association, many prescription and nonprescription drugs can cause dry mouth. Medicines including antihistamines, decongestants, antidepressants, pain medications, arthritis medication (disease-modifying agents) play a potent role in causing dry mouth.
Side Effects Of Certain Diseases And Infections:
According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, dry mouth and tooth decay are the side effects of medical conditions. These medical conditions include Sjögren's syndrome, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, anemia, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and Parkinson's disease.
A Side Effect Of Certain Medical Treatments:
A dry mouth also occurs due to damage to one's salivary glands in which salivary flow is affected; patients delay treatment and are non-seriousness about their oral health. Damage could stem from improper oral surgery, oral medicine, radiation treatments for a cancer patient, or chemotherapy treatment.
Oral Mucosa:
Many people with dry mouth have it due to damage to their oral health while undergoing radiation therapy. It is important to get your gums and teeth checked by the dentist or doctor before going through chemotherapy, head and neck cancer surgery, or any other surgery.
Dehydration:
Excessive sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, blood loss, and burns can cause dry mouth. Major salivary glands reduce salivary flow, thus causing mouth infections.
Sugary Foods:
Many people have mouth dryness because of their high intake of soft drinks, dry foods, spicy foods, and acidic foods. It is beneficial to drink plenty of water, eat soft eatables, and eat moist foods that contain a lot of moisture, such as bananas, oranges, melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes, to prevent salivary dysfunction.
Surgical Removal Of The Salivary Glands:
Surgical removal of salivary glands also causes dry mouth.
Xerostomia Treatment
There are many non-surgical dry mouth treatment options.
If these treatments don't work, non-surgical and surgical treatments are necessary. It can include treating an underlying condition such as Sjogren's syndrome or diabetes.
Other non-surgical treatments include:
Sugarless Chews & Lozenges:
Chewing sugar-free gum or sucking on sugar-free candies and Lozenges can provide relief for a dry mouth.
Sugar-Free Gum:
Chew sugar-free gum as this chewing gum contains xylitol, an oral medicine to help prevent cavities. Xylitol is present in sugar-free gum that may cause gas or diarrhea if consumed in large amounts.
Sugar-Free Candy:
Xylitol is also present in sugar-free candy and sugar-free ice pops, which helps to restore saliva.
Lozenges:
Xylitol can be used to help reduce the number of bacteria that grow and may cause cavities, bad breath, or gum disease if not removed from teeth regularly.
Kick Dehydrating Habits
Drink Plenty Of Water:
Start your day with a glass of water and drink it frequently throughout the rest of your day. Also, make sure to drink during meals for easier chewing and swallowing. Aim to consume at least eight glasses of water per day and sip throughout the routine to stay hydrated.
Use Cool Mist Humidifier:
It is important to treat dry mouth as soon as it occurs, and one of the easiest ways to do this is by placing a cup of water next to your bed or setting a humidifier in your room to avoid oral dryness.
Breathe Through Your Nose:
Mouth breathing can create a problem during sleep because, during sleep, salivary output reaches its lowest circadian level. Breathe through your nose because it is a very effective way to prevent dry mouth from developing in the first place.
Use Xylitol:
Xylitol helps prevent cavities and stimulates saliva flow, which can help with salivation problems associated with Xerostomia. It also contains antimicrobial properties that fight plaque buildup on teeth throughout the day.
Avoid:
Surgical dry mouth treatments can include a minor surgical procedure to create ducts from the gland to bring saliva into the mouth or replace salivary glands altogether with excess glands taken from inside the mouth or from the lower lip.
Surgical dry mouth treatments include a temporary sialogogue injection and labyrinthectomy surgery. It can be fatal for patients' oral health if not handled skillfully.
Radiation Therapy:
You can cure dry mouth via radiation therapy. The dry mouth treatment can include high-dose radiation that kills the salivary glands. It may take weeks or months for xerostomia symptoms to improve, but they will completely go away in some cases.
Doctors do not recommend dry mouth treatment via radiation therapy for those who have had previous cancer.
Salivary Stimulants:
Salivary stimulants play a potent role in curbing the dryness of the mouth. This dry mouth treatment includes an oral medication that is xylitol that increases saliva production. It also can be applied topically or injected into the salivary glands directly.
Systemic Sialogogues:
Systemic sialogogues are dry mouth treatments in which patients take pills to improve saliva production. This xerostomia treatment acts on the salivary glands and stimulates them into action.
Conclusion:
A clinician with Xerostomia complaint can identify patients with true salivary gland hypofunction with effective diagnostic criteria and functional tests. No generic treatment rules are available, but there are many treatment options for managing the problem. The treatment options include topical agents used for relieving and preventing Xerostomia via systemic drugs or newer medical instruments. This document is summarizing the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches for addressing this condition and hyposalivation.