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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Dry Mouth

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Dry Mouth

Ever notice how drooling seems to come naturally to the very young? From the mouths of innocent babes comes enough saliva to turn a bib to a bath mat. But as we grow up, we tend to dry up. The addition of years seems to translate to a loss of saliva.

Aging alone, however, isn't the only cause of xerostomia, or dry mouth. More often we can blame it on all the 24-carat hassles that we live with in the golden age of our lives: Most cases of dry mouth can be blamed on some 400 medicines used to treat nearly everything from arthritis to ulcers. Even caffeine and over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil) can contribute to dry mouth.

Besides making your mouth feel like it's plugged with cotton, dry mouth can make swallowing, eating and even talking difficult. Worst case: Mouth tissue becomes cracked and irritated, and you begin to suffer related problems such as bad breath, lost fillings, gum infections and tooth decay. But here's how to permanently wet your whistle if you're among the one in three Americans with dry mouth.

Take a hard line against soft drinks. Drinking more is the obvious solution to dry mouth--as long as you're not slurping soda, orange juice or other beverages that contain either citric or phosphoric acid.

"Soft drinks are very acidic, and people with dry mouth lack the saliva necessary to neutralize these acids that can harm the teeth," says James Sciubba, D.M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Dental Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, and founding chairman of the Sjšgren's Syndrome Foundation.

Instead, Dr. Sciubba says carrying a flask of water and taking frequent sips is the best way to get your mouth moist again. "The key is how frequently you drink, not necessarily how much you drink," he says.

Suck on fruit pits. Pits from peaches, nectarines and cherries help increase saliva flow without adding any calories. Just be careful not to swallow them.

Eat mushy foods. Eating any food will stimulate saliva. But the best choices are soft foods and those moistened with sauces or gravies that go down the hatch easily, says Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D., associate professor of oral medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Go sugarless. "Use of sugar by a patient with a dry mouth will produce tooth decay within six months," warns Dr. Sciubba. "One of the best ways to keep saliva flowing is to suck on hard candies or to chew gum, but the gum and candy must be sugarless." In fact, sucking on sorbitol-containing sugarless candies, mints and gum has been found to increase saliva tenfold in some people.

Brush Frequently to Beat Bad Breath

Brushing your teeth is even more important than usual when you suffer from dry mouth. Since saliva usually washes away trapped food morsels, when you're short on saliva, food hangs around longer-and that creates bad breath.

Since dry mouth almost guarantees bad breath, Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D., associate professor of oral medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, suggests that you dip your toothbrush in baking soda moistened with water and scrub your teeth and tongue twice daily to help neutralize odor and bacteria. That's also good for your teeth, since anyone with dry mouth is at greater risk for cavities and other dental problems.

Rinse your mouth with some fluoride. When saliva production is low, your risk of cavities and gum disease is high. Swishing with a fluoride mouth rinse at bedtime helps remineralize teeth and can help protect you against cavities and gum disease.

There are also artificial saliva products that help. "In our studies, we found that over-the-counter products such as MouthKote provide a nice, moist coating over mucous membranes," says Dr. Rhodus. Other products include Xero-Lube, Salivart and Evian mineral water spray.

Moisturize the air. Using a cool-air vaporizer in your home is a good way to add much-needed extra humidity to the air--especially if you're a mouth breather, says Dr. Sciubba. But make an effort to always breathe through your nose to prevent saliva from evaporating.

Use lemon sparingly. While full-fledged lemonade should be avoided, tasting some lemon juice diluted in water or rinsing with a bit of lemon juice and glycerin is a good way to stimulate the flow of saliva, says Dr. Rhodus. But here's the drawback: If your mucous membranes are so dry that you have developed sores, the citric acid could further irritate your mouth. (If you do have these sores, go light on lemon as well as spicy foods and anything else that can irritate your mouth.)

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